There I used to be within the second row on the Google Pixel 8 launch event. The keynote was about to start out, and whereas different journalists pulled out their laptops and began typing away, I whipped out the OnePlus Open, the brand new folding telephone from the Chinese firm that makes good mid-priced Android units.
Usually, at these sorts of bustling reside occasions, I’ve my laptop computer in entrance of me to take notes and write tweets, with Slack within the background to observe chats with my group members. But with the OnePlus Open and its snazzy multitasking options, I used to be in a position to see three apps on the similar time on the massive 7.82-inch display screen—Slack and Chrome sat subsequent to one another, and I positioned X alongside the underside. I used to be in a position to publish a stream of tweets (Xs?) containing pictures fairly simply whereas transferring again to the opposite apps to answer my colleagues in Slack and seize URLs from Chrome.
OnePlus, to me, all the time performs third fiddle to Samsung and Google in the broader Android ecosystem, at the very least within the US. Both Samsung and Google additionally make superb foldables. But with the Open, OnePlus makes a compelling case that that is the book-like foldable to purchase—so long as you possibly can abdomen spending $1,700 on a smartphone.
Open-Book Test
Samsung is on its fifth generation of Galaxy Fold phones, and whereas it has continued to refine the expertise with each iteration, it has largely caught with the identical measurement and form. This 12 months, firms like Google and OnePlus are getting into the fray with more energizing designs that, for my part, supply a better folding phone experience.
The OnePlus Open has a 6.31-inch entrance display screen that is virtually regular wanting. It’s not awkwardly slim just like the entrance display screen on Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold5, and it isn’t quick and broad just like the outer face of the Google Pixel Fold. This, coupled with the surprisingly svelte physique that measures 11.7 millimeters thick when folded, makes the Open really feel nearer to a standard telephone and never some chunky machine. For reference, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is 8.25 mm, the Pixel Fold is 12.1 mm, and the Fold5 is 13.4 mm. The Open can be one of many lightest folding telephones in its class at simply 239 grams. (The Fold5 is 253 grams, and the Pixel Fold is 283 grams.)
In the primary few days of utilizing the telephone, I typically forgot I may crack it open and make use of the a lot bigger inner show. That’s not a foul factor—in actuality, with booklike foldables, you are going to be utilizing the outside display screen more often than not, switching to the bigger show while you need to multitask, play a sport, or watch a video. An exterior display screen that feels just like the display screen of a standard telephone is strictly what we wish.
The solely {hardware} gripe I’ve is with the huge digital camera module on the again. My palms are massive, and my index finger steadily sits over the bump. That would not really feel nice, and I’m continually smudging the digital camera glass. This won’t be a lot of an issue if in case you have smaller paws. At least the entire thing seems beautiful, particularly within the Emerald Dusk colour.
OnePlus achieved the Open’s spectacular design with a singular mix of metals like titanium and cobalt molybdenum alloys. The firm claims to make use of far fewer elements in its “Flexion” hinge mechanism, which has been examined to face up to 1 million folds, a lot increased than the 200,000-fold declare from Samsung and Google. OnePlus additionally says the Ceramic Guard glass on the telephone’s entrance is 20 % more durable than the Gorilla Glass Victus on the Pixel Fold.
I did not bust out my hammer and pliers to check these claims, and it is laborious to say how this OnePlus will fare over time. But total, the form of the entrance display screen paired with the thinness and lighter weight of the telephone make it remarkably good to make use of, nearly like a standard telephone. The hinge is actually responsive, and the primary show of the Open does have one of many least noticeable creases within the foldable world. It’s a disgrace the machine’s water resistance score is proscribed to IPX4—it will be tremendous within the rain, however its friends can face up to water submersion. (It’s additionally value contemplating that Samsung has an intensive restore community across the US, so fixing a OnePlus Open won’t be as straightforward.)
Open Sesame
Photograph: OnePlus
As you first begin turning the OnePlus Open over in your palms, it looks like the corporate spared no expense in its building. It feels luxe, and OnePlus even introduced again the multi-position Alert Slider on the facet of the telephone, which helps you to to change between silent, vibrate, and ring with a satisfying flick.
