OnePlus Open review

Introduction

OnePlus Open - the company's first foldable smartphone is here. The Open introduces one incredibly clean design, two superb Dolby Vision OLED screens and three Hasselblad-enhanced cameras on the back. And that's just the beginning. Let's meet the OnePlus Open!

The OnePlus Open impresses right out of the bat with a clean and classy design, one reminiscent of a portable digital camera from a while back. It has all sorts of niceties such as a Ceramic Guard panel, a vegan leather or glass back, a thin metal frame and an exclusive hinge design with less complexity and higher durability. The phone is IPX4-rated for splash resistance.

Naturally, everything on the Open revolves around its two displays. The primary one is a 7.82-inch LTPO3 Flexi-Fluid AMOLED with a high resolution, 10-bit color depth, a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate and plenty of other high-end specs. The cover screen is a full-fledged 6.31-inch LTPO3 Super Fluid AMOLED with 20:9 aspect ratio, 10-bit color depth, a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate and a Ceramic Guard protection.

The OnePlus Open employs the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset by Qualcomm, and it should be among the last top-tier phones to use it before the Gen 3 arrives in a few days. The Open will be available in only one configuration with 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB UFS4 storage.

OnePlus markets the Open as a premium cameraphone, and it sure has the hardware to be one. There are three Hasselblad cameras on its back - a 48MP OIS primary with a new Sony "Pixel Stacked" sensor, a 64MP OIS telephoto with 3x optical and 6x in-sensor zoom, and a 48MP ultra-wide camera for both panoramic and macro shots.

There are two, well, let's call them selfie cameras, both found inside small punch holes in the two displays. The first one is a 32MP cam inside the cover display and the other one is a 20MP shooter inside the foldable screen.

The OnePlus Open has three powerful Dolby Atmos speakers, all sorts of connectivity features, and the latest OxygenOS 13.2 with foldable-enhanced experience.

By the way, the OnePlus Open premieres side by side with the Oppo Find N3, two virtually identical foldables excluding the colors and the splash resistance, but the Open is intended for the global markets, while the Find N3 should be limited to just a couple of countries. Furthermore, the OnePlus and its Open should become the first global competitor to Samsung's Fold series.

OnePlus Open specs at a glance:

• Body: 153.4x73.3x11.7mm or 11.9mm, 239g leather or 245g glass; Ceramic Guard glass front (closed), plastic front (open), vegan leather or glass back, metal frame; IPX4.
• Display: 7.82" Foldable LTPO3 OLED, 1B colors, Dolby Vision, 120Hz, 1400nits (HBM), 2800 nits (peak), 2440x2268px resolution, 1.076:1 aspect ratio, 426ppi; Cover display:, 6.31" LTPO3 OLED, 1B colors, Dolby Vision, 120Hz, 1400nits (HBM), 2800 nits (peak), 2484x1116px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 431ppi, Ceramic Guard glass.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8550-AC Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4 nm): Octa-core (1x3.36 GHz Cortex-X3 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 2x2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 & 3x2.0 GHz Cortex-A510); Adreno 740.
• Memory: 512GB 16GB LPDDR5X RAM; UFS 4.0.
• OS/Software: Android 13, OxygenOS 13.2.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 48 MP, f/1.7, 24mm, 1/1.43", 1.12µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 64 MP, f/2.6, 70mm, 1/2", 0.7µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom, 6x in-sensor zoom; Ultra wide angle: 48 MP, f/2.2, 14mm, 114˚, 1/2", 0.8µm, PDAF.
• Front cameras: Internal: 20MP, f/2.2, 20mm, 1/4", 0.7µm; Cover: 32MP, f/2.4, 22mm, 1/3.14", 0.7µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps gyro-EIS, HDR10+, Dolby Vision; Front camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS.
• Battery: 4805mAh; 67W wired.
• Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 7; BT 5.3, aptX HD; NFC.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos.

It looks like there is nothing missing on the OnePlus Open. Yes, we can argue about the outdated Quad-Bayer selfie cameras, but let's not forget this is a foldable smartphone and you can use the main triple-setup for mug shots. And that's why we will let this slide. Maybe they will even surprise us this time, who knows.

The Open is not IPX8-rated as the Fold5, which means it must not be submerged in water. But it can endure sprays of water, rain, showers even - stuff that should be enough for most users.

Unboxing the OnePlus Open

The OnePlus Open arrives packed in a signature red paper box, a rather large one. And it's full of goodies! You get the phone, naturally. While we have received the Black version, we should note that the EU, and possibly other markets, will get only the Green model.

Inside the box, you will find a SuperVOOC charger - 67W for Europe and 80W for all other markets. Despite this discrepancy, OnePlus assured us that charging won't go above 67W regardless of which adapter you get in the box, so the charging times will be the same throughout the world. It also comes with an 8A-rated USB-A-to-C cable painted in OnePlus' signature red color.

OnePlus also provides a plastic case for the two halves of the phone. The back has a matching color and leather-like finish, so you will not lose the premium look if you decide on using it.

Finally, the Open has a thin protective film applied on its cover screen. It's great for a scratch shield, but it is also a massive smudge magnet on top of the already highly durable new Ceramic Guard screen glass, so we peeled the protector off quickly.