Though the smartphone market is at an all-time peak, foldables are still a very niche part of it. Still, for those who want a foldable, there are quite a few options to pick from, including the OnePlus Open.
The OnePlus Open is the first foldable from OnePlus, and it’s technically the “global” version of the Oppo Find N3 with some changes in color options and software. When we first reviewed the OnePlus Open, it was clear that it was one of the best foldables you can buy.
Does the OnePlus Open still hold up half a year later? I recently revisited the phone to find out.
One of the most comfortable foldables out there
Before I joined Digital Trends, I had never used a folding phone. I was skeptical about them, but once I started using them for work, I grew to like them. Though the Google Pixel Fold was the first one that I really used and liked, once the OnePlus Open came out, it blew the Pixel Fold out of the water.
The biggest advantage that the OnePlus Open has over its competitors is that it is so much more lightweight. Since foldable phones are basically like two regular slab phones put together, they’re heavy. The Pixel Fold weighs a hefty 283 grams, while the Z Fold 5 is a little lighter at 253g. But the OnePlus Open is just 239g, which is about how much an iPhone 14 Pro Max weighs. For a foldable, that is very light.
Since the OnePlus Open is much more lightweight than its biggest competitors, it’s just so much more comfortable to use. Even when I have it open, scrolling through an app with one hand is actually manageable for me since it isn’t so heavy.
Plus, the cover display is quite usable with its 6.3-inch screen, which feels like a standard smartphone. One of the things I always disliked about the Galaxy Z Fold is the unusually tall and narrow display that makes it a bit hard for me to type on. Though I still prefer the shorter and wider cover display of the Google Pixel Fold, the OnePlus Open is a nice middle ground between of the Pixel Fold and Galaxy Z Fold 5.
The displays are still wildly impressive
Screens are an important element on any smartphone, but even more so on a foldable. Thankfully, the OnePlus Open still has excellent displays on the interior and exterior.
Both displays on the OnePlus Open are AMOLED with LTPO 3.0 technology and a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate, and they both reach peak brightness levels of 2,800 nits. When I picked up the OnePlus Open again after several months of not using it, the displays made me fall in love again.
The cover display has a crystal clear 2484 x 1116 pixel resolution with a sharp 431 pixels per inch (ppi). It can go all the way down to a 10Hz refresh rate to conserve power when not in use. The inner display has a 2440 x 2268 resolution with 426 ppi and can reach a 1Hz refresh rate.
Regardless of which display you’re using, the OnePlus Open packs a punch with vivid colors, sharp and crisp text, and buttery smooth scrolling. The inner display also has an antireflective screen protector, which is my favorite thing about it. This minimizes the glare on the screen and also protects it. The best part is that it actually does help reduce the visibility of the crease, which is always an issue that arises on foldables. With the OnePlus Open, you barely notice it’s there.
While OnePlus upped the brightness to 4,500 nits on the OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R, the 2,800 nits on the OnePlus Open is still plenty bright, especially outdoors. There really isn’t a downside to either of the Open’s displays, and that’s just as impressive today as it was a few months ago.
Plenty fast and snappy
The flagship chip for most Android phones in 2024 is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Since the OnePlus Open launched in 2023, it’s stuck with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but it’s still a perfectly capable processor, especially when combined with 16GB RAM.
After using the OnePlus Open again, I can’t really tell any difference in performance from, say, the OnePlus 12. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is not completely outdated, as it just came out a year ago. And 16GB RAM is probably way more than most people need on a smartphone.
I’ve had no issues with the OnePlus Open performance when going back to it. All of my apps launch quickly, switching between apps is seamless, and multitasking is a delight. The massive 4,805mAh battery allows you to be productive for longer, as it can easily last over a day on a single charge.
And if you want a foldable, but still need great cameras, the Hasselblad triple-lens camera system on the OnePlus Open is fantastic. It features a 48-megapixel main camera, a 48MP ultrawide lens, and a 64MP telephoto camera that gets you 3x optical zoom. Selfies aren’t bad either, with a 32MP camera on the cover display and a 20MP camera on the inner display.
The Flexion Hinge remains a blessing and curse
Just like it was upon the Open’s launch, the Flexion Hinge is both good and bad for me. OnePlus chose this hinge design to reduce the number of parts involved compared to the competition. It feels slightly looser and less firm than other foldable hinges, so it’s more like a double-edged sword.
On the positive side, it’s what makes the phone is so lightweight compared to the Pixel Fold and Galaxy Z Fold 5. It’s also much easier to get it to open flat, which was an issue I had with the Pixel Fold — it required a bit of force to be flat, which isn’t the case with the OnePlus Open.
But this is also where I have an issue with the OnePlus Open. Once you open the OnePlus Open past a certain angle (about 135 degrees), it doesn’t take a lot of force to get it to fully spring open and be flat. If you’re trying to use it in clamshell mode with a viewing angle that is past that angle, then you might be dealing with it springing open. This is a niche issue, though, so if you don’t think you’ll use it in clamshell mode very often, this won’t be a problem.
The OnePlus Open is still a great foldable
Despite my qualms with the hinge design, the OnePlus Open is still fantastic months later. We said back then that it was one of the best foldables that you can buy, and that still holds true in May 2024.
If you want a foldable phone that packs in a ton of power, but is still super lightweight and easy to carry and use, then check out the OnePlus Open. It’s also a bit cheaper than the competition, which is nice, and OnePlus has a great trade-in deal on its website that can help you get up to $600 off.
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