The OnePlus Open came, saw and won. Samsung’s first competitor on the market is suddenly going all out.

fuck it all, this is how the OnePlus Open (1,799 euros including VAT) can be described. For the first time, a foldable smartphone meets all the expectations we expect in this price range. Unfortunately, there’s a damper on the festive spirit that we’re annoyed about, but not everyone will take it equally seriously.

Wondering how OnePlus managed this with a first-generation product? Although it is the first foldable phone from OnePlus, the parent company BBK Electronics also has Oppo under its wing. The company has been making the Oppo Find N series foldable for two years and coincidentally is launching the Oppo Find N3 at the same time as the OnePlus Open.

Both are 100 percent identical, but the first is only available in China. The OnePlus Open is the international model. OnePlus’ first foldable phone, but not really.

Practical design

A good foldable smartphone has a large screen on the inside and a usable screen on the outside. For five generations, the Samsung Galaxy Fold has had a front screen that is far too narrow, making it difficult to write a message, for example. The OnePlus Open solves this problem by adopting a normal width of the phone at the front.

In an ideal world, you’ll use the front screen of a foldable phone 80 percent of the time, for example to type a message or quickly check a notification. You spend the remaining 20 percent on your cell phone and opening it in front of the big screen to read or watch something yourself or to show something to someone.

The OnePlus Open lets you get through those 80 percent of the time comfortably and without frustration. In our opinion, it’s the ideal size for a foldable device. If Samsung adjusts the proportions next year after the OnePlus Open (and Google Pixel Fold in some EU countries), it will have a better competitive position.

It also helps that the phone is very light for a foldable device: 239 grams compared to 253 grams for the current Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5.

Stable hinge

OnePlus combines ease of use with an excellent design that feels sturdy. The hinge has just enough resistance at the beginning and the screen opens easily at the end. The hinge doesn’t really offer 180 degrees, more like 178 degrees, but that doesn’t really bother us.

The large camera ring in the middle of the back ensures that the device stands stable on the table. The thick ring even gives your index finger extra grip when holding the device open and closed. Even after using it for two weeks, we didn’t notice that the device was awkward to use.

The hinge feels solid and there is no play. The OnePlus Open has an IPX4 rating, which means the device is splash-proof but not dust-proof. Samsung does better with a completely waterproof design. OnePlus says that the hinge and screen have been tested for one million closures. In concrete terms, this means that you can open and close the device a hundred times every day for ten years.

We can’t yet know how stable the phone with the fragile foldable display will be in practice. Bending certainly won’t cause any damage, but that doesn’t tell us about scratches or other possible problems. OnePlus offers a two-year manufacturer’s warranty as standard.

Performance

There is no lack of top performance with the fast Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip. No chip performs better in an Android phone this year. The performance is therefore also corresponding.

We often say that you don’t need such a fast chip in a smartphone unless you play demanding 3D games. With the OnePlus Open, the additional computing power comes into play thanks to multitasking. You can make the most of the large screen by working with two or three windows at the same time.

Particularly practical: the phone remembers this window composition. Say you go to the home screen to open something, and then you can use the recent windows to reopen the composition with the three active apps.

picture quality

While the Samsung Fold series doesn’t have the top cameras of the Samsung Galaxy Ultra series, OnePlus is packing its current best cameras into a foldable model. The OnePlus Open has a 48 MP (f/1.7) main camera, a 48 MP (f/2.2) wide-angle camera and a 64 MP (f/2.6) 3x optical zoom.

The standard lens (12 MP photos by default Pixel binning) look very good, balanced and rich in detail. What’s practical is that the wide-angle lens has almost the same color scheme and also delivers very detailed images. You shouldn’t make any compromises here.

The 3x optical zoom does an excellent job and delivers realistic results. Everything looks natural, lifelike, with beautiful colors without being overly flashy.

When it gets dark, the camera continues to perform very well. The OnePlus Open often delivers the best or second best night photos with its main camera. The high dynamic range helps a lot and the colors remain realistic. The optical zoom doesn’t always automatically switch to night mode and is a bit disappointing. Fortunately, the wide-angle camera performs better: a rarity in dark or difficult lighting conditions.

Android 13

The OnePlus Open comes with OxygenOS 13.2: an Android shell that’s pretty close to stock Android. OnePlus has been adding a number of useful new features to the operating system for years. The device only comes with Android 13, while the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro only come with Android 14.

That’s a shame because OnePlus guarantees four years of operating system updates and five years of security updates. With Android 13 now included, you’re already “losing” an OS update since Android 14 is now available but OxygenOS 14 isn’t yet. That’s the disadvantage of a release in the fall, when the latest Android version always hits the market.

No wireless charging?!

The biggest downside to the OnePlus Open? No wireless charging, in our opinion an incomprehensible choice in this price segment. Both Samsung and Google ship it in their foldable phones, so it can’t be due to the form factor. The battery is located behind the screen, so there appears to be enough space on the back to accommodate the thin copper coil for wireless charging.

In an official response, OnePlus says that limiting the thickness of the device was a conscious design decision. We mostly call it nonsense and a missed opportunity. If you never charge wirelessly, you won’t miss it. Anyone who relies on wireless charging in their lives today has Qi-compatible chargers everywhere (car, desk, bedside table, kitchen table). Then spending this budget and no longer being able to do that is not possible.

Big screen, big sound

A large screen invites you to consume media. Fortunately, OnePlus understands that the sound must also be of the highest quality. There are three speakers in the device that deliver a very nice, warm and opaque sound. The smart ones say there are four speakers in it: the fourth grille is empty, OnePlus wanted to keep the device symmetrical.

As with every foldable phone, there is no fingerprint sensor in the screen, but rather in the power button on the side. It works very quickly, but the accuracy is a bit disappointing. Sometimes we have to register the same finger twice before it really works smoothly.

OnePlus fans can be happy that the alarm slider is back. That was last year MIAbut this year the OnePlus Open is over again.

Battery life and charging time

No idea if it’s related to the pre-release software, but the battery percentage calibration is still quite buggy on this phone even today. While for a given benchmark the percentage decreases in fixed increments of 7 minutes, it takes up to 45 minutes to go from 100% to 99%. A recalibration by the manufacturer is appropriate here.

Looking beyond that, we see excellent battery life. The difference between open and closed is also very small (8% less battery open), which is a nice bonus for anyone who likes to consume a lot of media on the larger screen in the middle.

OnePlus includes a 67-watt fast charger in the box, which unfortunately is not USB-C Power Delivery compatible. The OnePlus Open once again uses Oppo/OnePlus’ “SuperVOOC” technology, which is not standard. Result: You cannot use the included charger to charge your laptop and conversely, your laptop charger (or other fast charger) cannot quickly charge the phone. It remains frustrating, hopefully OnePlus changes its strategy in the long term.

With the right charger, charging is very quick. Wireless charging may be missing, but if you prefer to connect your device to a cable every now and then, you have nothing to complain about. Simply shower and brush your teeth in the morning and you’ll be back on the road with a full battery.

Diploma

We’ve found Samsung’s Fold phones fascinating for years, but the front screen size wasn’t practical. The OnePlus Open (1,799 euros including VAT) solves this problem and combines it with a particularly good camera, excellent battery life and top specifications. A protective cover is even included in the scope of delivery.

Nobody sells a better foldable phone in Europe today. The fact that it’s also slightly cheaper than the competition makes it a no-brainer for anyone who’s in the market to buy a foldable phone and has the budget to spend on it.

Warranty: Two-year manufacturer’s standard carry-in warranty. The OnePlus Open will receive at least five years of security updates and four years of operating system updates from launch on October 26, 2023. The phone ships with Android 13.