OnePlus Open: A Great Success For This Foldable Smartphone

After a period of reasonably intense turbulence followed by a long silence, OnePlus is coming back with a vengeance and is finally launching into the foldable smartphone sector. Renowned as high-end, ultra-thin and efficient, its flagship, the OnePlus Open, is uncompromising compared to the market leaders.

With the powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, a teardrop hinge, a 3x telephoto lens, and even 67W fast charging, on paper, this device is a formidable competitor to the other models offered by the brand, but on the folding smartphone market, what exactly is it worth? We reveal everything to you in this test.

A Very Well-Finished Design

With a finish worthy of premium smartphones, the OpenPlus Open is a magnificent beast. We especially appreciate its satin glass back, its aluminum edges and its uniform borders. The faces of the phone are perfectly flat and end with beveled edges, which provides more comfort when holding.

Taking a look at its hinge, it is one of the most successful, at least among those that we have already seen. It is not only well crafted but, above all, very robust. It also gives an accurate impression of satisfaction when handling it, and the crease on the internal screen is relatively invisible. The only slight problem would be that you cannot fold the smartphone other than 90 degrees because when you move away from this position, it closes or opens suddenly.

A Folding Screen Without Concession, Or At Least Almost

The OnePlus brand has gone strong in offering the best in the world of smartphones. By using water drop technology, the fold is almost non-existent when the OnePlus Open is unfolded, and that is rather impressive! This is due to the very nature of the internal screen since here we find the layer of UTG or Ultra Thin Glass combined with a layer of TPU and anti-reflective screen protection. But it doesn’t stop there!

To make the screen more durable and thicker, OnePlus added a layer of Ceramic Guard. To this end, the resistance of the OnePlus open screen is 20% greater than Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus. In terms of brightness, the internal foldable screen is good. It is also super bright with very pronounced contrasts and deep blacks. The external screen, for its part, takes the format of a classic smartphone.

Even More Software Performance

The OnePlus Open runs OxygenOS 13.2 based on Android 13, with four years of significant updates and five years of security patching. Even though this smartphone was developed in partnership with Oppo, the merger of its operating system with ColorOS has not overloaded its interface. Indeed, it remains simple, straightforward and fluid.

It also offers an excellent user experience close to Stock Android but with one detail. The OnePlus Open offers a multi-window function, which goes even further. If previously we could display up to 3 applications simultaneously, now we are entitled to the new Fast Focus function, which allows us not to be limited to the physical size of the internal screen! In terms of performance, the OnePlus Open is equipped with the most potent high-end chip on the market, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, supported by 16 GB of LPDDR5X RAM.

Enough to make this foldable smartphone an absolute beast! When playing instead demanding games like Diablo Immortal and Wild Rifts, we did not notice any particular problems. As for the benchmark, the phone achieves high-performance scores. However, it is a few steps behind the Galaxy Z Fold 5 or even the Asus Zenfone 10.

Correct Autonomy

Autonomy is only sometimes the strong point of foldable smartphones. In the case of the OnePlus Open, it has two batteries of 3,295 mAh and 1,510 mAh, which offer a capacity of 4,805 mAh. As it approaches the 5,000 mAh used on the large models on the market and is equipped with the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, which is less energy-consuming, it has relatively good autonomy. It can also last a good day, even with rather intensive use. On the charging side, there is 67W SuperVOOC fast charging, which allows the battery to charge to 30% in 10 minutes. What is unfortunate with the OnePlus Open is the lack of wireless charging.

Very Satisfactory Photosensors

Regarding the camera, the manufacturer has spoiled the OnePlus Open with a more ambitious photo block, which can be explained by its thickness and selfie cameras, which offer satisfactory results. Developed in partnership with the Hasselblad brand, it incorporates dedicated filters that work wonders on colourimetry so that the colors are natural with good exposure.

In addition, we also find a Hasselblad portrait mode as well as XPAN mode. Elements that were only present on Oppo smartphones since the Find X5 Pro. The most exciting thing about this folding smartphone is the consistency between its three cameras. However, in low light, we noted some issues with lens flare, especially for shots with light sources in the frame.

A High-End Sound Experience

Regarding the sound, the OnePlus Open does not have a jack socket, which is not very unpleasant in this wireless era. This folding smartphone has two Dolby Atmos compatible speakers. We, therefore, start again with a real stereo, which does the job well for short multimedia content.

As neither takes precedence over the other, we can have a nice spatialization of the sound. On the mixing side, the bass is well-pushed without taking over too much. However, as we moved away from 80%, we noticed a small loss of quality in very slight crackling on certain tracks.

The Highlights Of The OnePlus Open

Very compact 2 in 1 device
Easy to handle whether open or closed
Reliable and consistent performance
Robust autonomy
Built-in alert slider
Triple-layer protection of the main screen
Effective temperature control
Versatile cameras
67W SuperVOOC Fast Charging

The Weak Points Of The OnePlus Open

Lack of wireless charging
Huge rear photo module
There is no room for exclusive UI customization between screens
Thermal throttling in heavy-duty tasks
Bulky SuperVOOC adapter

Our Verdict

The OnePlus Open is a great foldable smartphone and for many reasons. Its finishes and perfectly flat edges give an exceptional design to this high-end phone. We especially appreciate the work on the screen folding, which is just fantastic. Screen rations are just as relevant. The OnePlus Open is pleasant to use due to its interface, which is both simple and effective. Added to this is multitasking mode, which offers an optimal user experience.

Compared to its competitors, this OnePlus flagship stands out for its autonomy, which can reach up to a whole day in intensive use or even two days in moderate use. Indeed, it has some minor drawbacks, such as the absence of IPX8 certification or the lack of interface maturity. However, here we have the latest generation folding smartphone with the best value for money, 190 euros cheaper than the Galaxy Z Fold 5. In short, the OnePlus Open is undoubtedly a great success in design and functionality.