The OnePlus Open has been a long time coming, but it distinguishes out among foldables for a multitude of reasons. The first is the gadget’s name: rather than the tried-and-true ‘Fold’ branding, OnePlus wants the device to be ‘Open for Everything,’ implying its versatility as a phone-tablet hybrid.
However, the same can be said of Oppo’s Find N3, which debuted at the same time as the OnePlus Open and features nearly identical hardware and software. Then there’s the fact that OnePlus didn’t produce a folding phone until 2023, making it one of the latecomers to the party.
However, none of this matters until the OnePlus Open performs effectively in practice. While this is true, it isn’t the genre-defining technology you might be looking for.
Design & Build
- Premium book-style design
- Impressive durability
- Excellent haptics
If you’ve used a book-style foldable before, you’ll recognize the OnePlus Open. Its design is similar to competitors like the Galaxy Z Fold 5, with a standard phone-sized cover display (6.31in) that unfolds to expose a tiny tablet (7.82in).
The Open, like Samsung’s newest, folds totally flat, so it looks amazing whether it’s open (get it?) or closed. And, while you can see and feel the wrinkle on the inside screen, it has no effect on usage.
However, for a folding phone, durability will always be the first consideration. OnePlus says that the Open can withstand over 1,000,000 open and shut cycles, which equates to more than 100 folds each day for more than ten years. Of course, after a week of usage, I can’t confirm it, but the hinge seems really sturdy and solid.
OnePlus has conducted a range of other tests to ensure durability, including 1m drops against steel, a force of 55lbs, and substantial bending. It escaped all of this unharmed.
However, it is unclear whether this included scratch resistance. Despite using the Open like any other phone, the cover screen quickly developed a few of large scratches. This can readily fixed by removing the pre-applied screen protector, but I don’t encourage it.
Despite the possibility of cosmetic damage, nothing about the Open seems cheap or fragile. Most users shouldn’t have any trouble utilizing it throughout the entire five-year period of security upgrades, but it’s worth considering just in case.
This is a device that’s attractive from every angle
The Open also has an IPX4 classification, which means it is not dust-proof and can only withstand splashes of water. It isn’t the complete 1.5m submersion for 30 minutes of IP68/IPX8 protection. This is quite tough to do on a foldable, but Samsung did it with the IPX8 Galaxy Z Fold 5.
Importantly, the superior aluminum and glass construction hasn’t come at the expense of mobility. The green variant weights 245g, which is only little more than the 234g Galaxy S23 Ultra.
It’s also rather slim, measuring 11.7mm when folded, and may easily fit in the pocket of most men’s pants. This may still be an issue for women, whose pockets are often considerably smaller, but it is far from the Open one.
However, this is a gadget that is appealing from all angles, particularly in the dark green ‘Emerald Dusk’ finish. The matte-frosted glass back shimmers nicely when it catches the light while yet avoiding fingerprints and other obvious dirt.
It’s a shame the ‘Voyager Black’ vegan leather version won’t be available in the UK and Europe, but it is in the US. The green variant is somewhat lighter (239g) and thicker (11.9mm), but the sticky back means you can probably go case-free.
Regardless of color, the phone’s defining feature on the rear is the massive circular camera hump. It’s somewhat larger than the OnePlus 11, but I like it. This rounded style extends to the device’s edges, making the Open simpler to grasp open or closed.
I’d say the camera module is unusual, but the Find N3 from Oppo looks precisely the same. The only major distinction between the two is OnePlus’ conventional alert slider.
This, as usual, enables you to rapidly choose between ring, vibration, and quiet modes. It’s actually valuable to me, but it’s easy to dismiss if you don’t agree.
A fingerprint scanner is embedded into the power button on the opposite side (when open). I hope more businesses would choose this over the frequently faulty in-display versions. It’s simple to set up on the Open and routinely opens the device promptly, so I have no problems.
It’s also worth mentioning the haptics, which are among the greatest I’ve ever experienced. OnePlus has even given them a name: O-Haptics, and they provide subtle yet accurate input in a range of situations. I originally thought the intensity of typing was too high, however this is easily adjustable in settings.
Screen & Speakers
- Excellent cover and internal displays
- Not great for content consumption
- Impressive stereo speakers
OnePlus hasn’t spared any expense when it comes to the Open’s displays.
The inside one is a 7.82in, 2K (24402268) OLED display, which is the major reason for purchasing a book-style foldable. And it looks fantastic, mixing rich, brilliant colors with a lot of detail. These days, the top smartphones all have amazing screens, but I’m delighted it’s also achievable on a foldable device.
That implies there’s a crease all the way down the center, which you can see and feel when you touch it. Other foldables did a better job of hiding it, but it was surprising how little it mattered. I quickly forgot about the crease, and you can’t see it at all while watching movies.
Unfortunately, the latter is not a strong suit for the OnePlus Open. The unique resolution results in an extremely boxy aspect ratio that clashes with video like YouTube, Netflix, and Disney+. You’ll have to make due with massive back bars above and below, which means the viewing area isn’t much larger than a standard phone.
OnePlus hasn’t spared any expense when it comes to the Open’s displays
I did, however, appreciate utilizing the internal screen for most of my typical duties, such as online surfing, messaging/emails, and music streaming. It’s also great for multitasking, allowing you to run two (or more) programs simultaneously.
The fast refresh rate of the screen will be noticeable in all of the scenarios described above. It’s a 120Hz LTPO display, which means it may automatically reduce to 1Hz based on what you’re doing. As a consequence, everything seems sleek and fluid, with no impact on battery life.
The 6.31in cover display may only function at 10-120Hz, but it’s equally as good. The aspect ratio of the 24841116 OLED is significantly more typical, at 20:9, as seen on many normal phones.
However, clarity and color accuracy remain excellent, and I measured a respectable maximum brightness of 579 nits. In that sense, the internal display is just slightly behind, and both are well visible in bright outside conditions.
Another thing that struck me was how narrow the bezels are. They’re tiny around the cover display, and about as little as you’d anticipate inside when a hinge mechanism is required.
The Open contains four speaker grilles, although only three of them are active. According to OnePlus, this is because the bottom right one is more powerful, hence the bottom left one is unnecessary.
I can’t confirm that, but the stereo sound they can generate is far superior to what you may anticipate. The audio has an astounding depth and quality, whether you’re listening to conversations, music, or other noises.
The bass and treble are evident flaws, but they handle mid-range frequencies really well. They’re adequate for casual usage as well as watching movies and TV shows, but not as remarkable as specialized tablets like the OnePlus Pad.
Specs & Performance
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and 16GB of RAM
- Stellar performance in all scenarios
- 512GB non-expandable storage
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, Qualcomm’s freshest and finest at the time of introduction, powers the Open. Despite the fact that a successor (the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3) was announced just a few days later, there was no need for OnePlus to wait.
This is because the 8 Gen 2 still provides all of the performance you want and then some. It’s extremely quick throughout practically any workload, thanks to 16GB of the fastest LPDDR5X RAM. OnePlus claims the RAM can be extended to 12GB, but does not specify how.
I used the Open for everything I’d normally do with my phone, from site surfing and social media scrolling to texting and snapping photographs. The only lag of any kind was a handful of tiny hesitations while launching programs, but I believe that’s software-related, and I haven’t seen it since applying a recent update.
Multitasking, which was one of the Open’s primary strengths, was also incredibly quick and dependable. OnePlus claims you can run 44 apps at the same time, and after trying the smartphone, I can understand why.
The top-tier performance also makes the Open a potent gaming machine
The Open’s top-tier performance also makes it a formidable gaming machine. While playing demanding games like Call of Duty: Mobile, Asphalt 9, and Rocket League Sideswipe, the gameplay was smooth and lag-free.
They also handled the unique aspect ratio on the inside panel effectively, so I’d say that for short gaming sessions, the experience here is even better than on specialized gaming phones. However, the more complex cooling technologies on those devices will be missed during longer sessions.
OnePlus Open benchmarks
There is only one storage choice, however 512GB should be sufficient for most users. During my testing, I hardly scratched the surface, however the absence of support for microSD expansion is unfortunate.
However, when it comes to connection, the Open is well-prepared for the future. In addition to 5G, Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 7 are supported. The latter has yet to be completely implemented, but it’s comforting to know you’ll have access to the quickest speeds.
Cameras & Video
- Impressive triple rear cameras
- Average front-facing cameras
- Super-stable 1080p video
The OnePlus Open features five camera lenses spread across three sites. The triple rear configuration, created in conjunction with Hasselblad, is definitely the most crucial.
It is powered by a 48Mp Sony LYT-T808 primary sensor, which can consistently produce outstanding photos in favorable lighting. The primary lens has excellent detail and dynamic range, and it handles exposure quite well.
Colors are often true to life, as opposed to the overly saturated look of certain cellphones. However, I like this since it feels more real and can be easily altered later. It’s still a terrific point-and-shoot camera, and many shots don’t require any editing.
Detail and dynamic range from the main lens are superb, and it handles exposure very well
When there are obvious topics in the picture, the Open performs better in general. The building photos were particularly impressive, with the 48Mp ultrawide lens more suited to landscape photography. Unlike many camera phones, the image quality is only a little drop down from the primary lens, and the 114-degree field of view is frequently useful.
However, the 64Mp telephoto lens is undoubtedly the most remarkable of the bunch. It has an optical zoom range of up to 3x and a digital zoom range of up to 120x. The mix of optical and digital at 6x, on the other hand, produces some of the greatest zoom images I’ve seen on a smartphone, and the fact it can maintain so much information is remarkable.
The camera app can also recognize macro images and enhance them with greater clarity and brightness than usual.
Low-light images, on the other hand, are more difficult to achieve with all three lenses. Even with night mode activated, the images are rather dark and noisy.
However, the portrait mode is excellent, with objects nicely illuminated and overall superb edge detection. It’s also convenient to be able to change the level of background blur after the shot has been taken.
This is my preferred method of taking selfies since it provides far more information than either of the front-facing cameras. The lens on the cover is 32Mp, which handles colors and exposure well but tends to ignore background details. It’s a same situation with the 20Mp camera inside, which I’d mainly use for video calls.
The Open can record video in 4K resolution at 30 or 60 frames per second. However, I’d suggest the Ultra Steady mode, which is limited to 1080p at 60fps but takes full use of the primary lens’s OIS (optical image stabilisation) for astonishingly smooth footage even with a lot of movement.
Battery Life & Charging
- 4805mAh battery
- Battery life could be better
- Fast 67W charger in the box
The OnePlus Open features a 4805mAh battery that is divided into two cells. Before testing, I was worried that this wouldn’t be enough to assure long battery life, and I was right.
Most individuals will still get a full day of use off of a single charge. A full day of battery life might be difficult to achieve with plenty of high brightness, GPS, mobile data, and usage of the internal display. You may, of course, use power conservation mode, but this severely affects performance.
I realize how tough it is to get a huge battery into such a compact device with a foldable screen, but it’s disappointing to find a capacity that is less than that of many normal smartphones.
The good news is that if you can get to a power source, you won’t have to stay long. The OnePlus Open supports 67W rapid charging and comes with the appropriate charger. I recorded 50% in 15 minutes and the battery was fully charged in little under 45 minutes.
With lots of high brightness, GPS, mobile data and use of the internal display, a full day of battery life can be a struggle
However, you will have to make do without wireless charging, which is a big miss for some people.
Software & Features
- OxygenOS over Android 13
- Impressive dedicated foldable features
- Five years of security updates
The Open ships with Android 13.0. However, this is with OnePlus’ OxygenOS layer on top, which substantially modifies its appearance and feel when compared to a ‘vanilla’ Google Pixel.
While you still have full Google access, the notification shade appears different, and critical applications like Settings and Camera have been changed. Although OxygenOS isn’t as sleek or smooth as Android on Pixel phones, it’s still quite straightforward and simple to use. Even if you’ve never used a OnePlus phone before, getting used to it won’t take long.
OxygenOS appears to be quite similar to ColorOS, the version of Android seen on Oppo phones. The main difference is that there is far less bloatware. OnePlus includes a few of its own applications, such as the OnePlus Store and O Relax (free calming audio), however all of them are readily uninstallable.
OxygenOS isn’t quite as clean or slick as Android on Pixel phones, but it’s still very intuitive and easy to use
There are also a few other software gimmicks for the internal display. The taskbar changes to a tablet-style layout right away, with an app launcher, files, and recent applications added to the standard dock.
Split-screen multitasking is the most noticeable feature, which is triggered by launching one app and practically dividing the screen in half with two fingers. You may then add a third by dragging it from the taskbar, and you can even save app groupings on your home screen.
This is where you’ll see OnePlus’s ‘Open Canvas’ in action. It enables you to show apps outside the display’s edges, bringing them into view with a tap as needed. A four-finger squeeze reveals all of them at once.
Drag-and-drop capability is now available, allowing you to easily highlight files from one app (already open or in the taskbar) and move them to another. This functionality is supported by the majority of relevant applications and works quite well.
The same can be true for the overall multitasking experience. A lot of work and effort has definitely gone into the software, as it should on a foldable, and it makes the Open a viable productivity alternative. However, because of the tiny screen, it cannot compete with tablets for most people.
Unfortunately, one full-screen app isn’t always as spectacular. Many OnePlus applications and some third-party apps (such as WhatsApp and Facebook) perform well, while many from Google and other developers are not optimized and are merely bigger copies of the smartphone app. This makes them difficult to utilize at times.
It’s unclear when the Open will be updated to Android 14, but it’ll most likely be before the end of 2023. OnePlus guarantees four more years of Android version upgrades and five years of security updates, carrying you all the way to 2028.
Although not as long as Google’s seven years, the Open got an A grade from TÜV SÜD for 48-month Fluency. It apparently assures that the gadget will work.
Price & Availability
At launch, the OnePlus Open costs $1,699/£1,599. That’s for the only configuration, with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage.
Pre-orders are available from the OnePlus website in the US and UK now, ahead of the phone being released on 26 October. No contract offers are available yet, and it’s not clear if that’ll change once it goes on sale.
Specs
- Unfolded: 153.4 x 143.1 x 5.9 mm
- Folded: 153.4 x 73.3 x 11.7 mm
- 245g
- 6.31in 120Hz LTPO AMOLED cover display
- 7.82in 120Hz LTPO AMOLED foldable internal display
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
- 16GB RAM
- 512GB storage
- Rear cameras: 48Mp main f.1.7, 64Mp f/2.6 3x telephoto, 48Mp f/2.2 114° ultra-wide
- 32Mp f/2.4 inner selfie camera
- 20Mp f/2.2 cover selfie camera
- Up to 4K video recording
- 4805mAh battery with 67W charging
- Side-mounted fingerprint scanner
- Wi-Fi 7
- Bluetooth 5.3
- 5G
- NFC
- Available in Emerald Dusk, Voyager Black (not in UK & Europe)
