OnePlus Open: Initial impressions and everything you need to know about OnePlus' first foldable

Finally, the long awaited foldable phone from OnePlus was unveiled last evening in Mumbai. We had the good fortune of using the device for the past few days, oh and the OnePlus Open arrived in a neat little briefcase. While the review process is still in progress, we have a fair idea about what the phone offers.

I am sure you have a lot of queries about the OnePlus Open too. While we will leave the specifics about the performance and camera quality for the final review, we will strive to answer most of your questions today and share certain insights. The floor is Open for questions.

OnePlus Open: The Design

How bulky is the OnePlus Open?
The most obvious question when it comes to foldable phones, and the right one! We are happy to report that it is perfectly manageable. Of course, the foldable phones haven’t yet reached a point where they would be as slim (when folded) as regular flagship smartphones, but the Open is arguably the slimmest foldable phone around, measuring 11.7 mm in thickness when folded and just 5.8 mm when open. That makes it more than 1.5 mm slimmer than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 (folded).

Image Credit: Firstpost | Ameya DalviHow heavy is the OnePlus Open?
As for the weight, it is the lightest ‘full size foldable’ phone around, weighing under 240 grams. And as OnePlus cheekily likes to put it, a gram lighter than the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max. The company has made some smart choices with the materials and components used to keep the weight down without compromising on the build quality; the weight distribution is pretty decent too. Numbers aside, the phone doesn’t feel too bulky or too heavy in hand.

Now, anything over 200 grams is considered heavy for smartphones. But under a quarter of a kilo is perfectly acceptable for full sized foldable phones at the current stage of their evolution.

OnePlus Open: The Displays

Like all foldable phones, the OnePlus Open has two displays – the outer one when folded and the inner when open, and the company has gone to town with both. The outer display measures 6.31-inch and has a resolution of 2484 x 1116 pixels. When opened, you get a larger 7.82-display with a resolution of 2440 x 2268 pixels. Both are LTPO3 Fluid AMOLED displays with support for 10-bit colour, 120 Hz refresh rate and flaunt a peak brightness of 2800 nits.

How are the OnePlus Open screens different from those on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5?
For starters, the OnePlus Open has slightly larger inner and outer screens, but their resolution is significantly higher than Samsung’s. The OnePlus displays are also brighter and support Dolby Vision, wherein the aforementioned 2800 nits brightness can be put to good use.

Are the OnePlus Open displays scratch-resistant?
The outer display is scratch-resistant and comes equipped with a Ceramic Guard, which the company claims is 20 per cent more impact-resistant than Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. The inner display does not have any real scratch resistance barring a pre-applied screen protector that the company advises against removing. Having scratch-resistant glass on a foldable display is a puzzle yet to be cracked by all manufacturers.

Is the crease on the inner display prominent?
It is barely visible from certain angles; perhaps the most inconspicuous till date. But no, it hasn’t completely vanished. More importantly, it does not hinder any operation on this device.

OnePlus Open: Processing hardware

The processing hardware here is quite similar to the company’s other flagship phone, the OnePlus 11 5G. The OnePlus Open too has the most powerful Qualcomm SoC around, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. You get 16 GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512 GB of UFS 4.0 storage. Yes, there’s just one variant of the phone available at launch.

OnePlus Open: OS and user interface

Is the user interface different from other OnePlus phones?
OnePlus Open runs the latest Android 13 with Oxygen OS 13.2. While the outer screen has the standard user interface, the inner screen has the new Open Canvas UI similar to what you get on OnePlus tablets with a taskbar at the bottom of the screen. The UI is optimised for the larger squarish display and greatly aids in multitasking and file sharing.

How many more Android updates will the Open receive in the coming years?
Though OnePlus hasn’t specified the number of Android updates this device will receive going ahead, given the company’s track record, one can expect a handful of them over the next few years. We will check with the brand and get you an official word on this.

OnePlus Open: Cameras

OnePlus has absolutely packed the camera department here as one would expect on a flagship device. There are a total of five cameras on the phone – 3 at the back and one at the top of each screen. Let’s get the front cameras out of the way before we touch upon the rear setup. You get a 32MP camera at the top of the outer screen and a 20MP unit at the top right when you open the phone.

At the back, inside a big circular camera module, you can spot three cameras. The 48MP primary camera gets a new Sony LYTIA-T808 CMOS sensor along with optical image stabilisation (OIS). Then you have a 64MP periscope telephoto camera with OIS that provides 3X optical zoom, 6X hybrid near-lossless zoom and up to 120X ultra-res zoom (digital with AI). It can also be used to click some high-quality portrait shots, and of course, you get the Hasselblad tuning too.

Lastly, there’s also a 48MP ultra-wide camera with autofocus that can double up as a macro camera. All the cameras, front and back, can record videos in up to 4K resolution at 30 fps. The rear cameras can go up to 4K/60 fps and also support HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. Super slo-mo Full HD videos can be captured at up to 480 fps. As for the details of picture and video quality, you will need to wait for our final review, but things are looking impressive.

OnePlus Open: Battery and charging

What is the battery life of the OnePlus Open?
The OnePlus Open is fitted with a 4805 mAh battery that is expected to keep it running for a day of moderate use. Your mileage may vary depending on the quantum of usage of the inner screen especially. We are still testing this aspect of the device in various scenarios and will share more details in the final review.

Does it support fast charging?
Of course, it does! It’s a OnePlus phone afterall. However, the charging speed is modest for OnePlus standards. The Open supports 67W fast charging, and takes about 45 minutes to charge the phone fully from empty.

OnePlus Open: Price and availability in India

The OnePlus Open is priced at Rs 1,39,999 in India with a one-year warranty. It is available for pre-order now with multiple introductory offers, and the open sale starts on 27th October 2023.

The phone will be available on the company’s web store and Amazon India online and through Reliance Digital and other partner stores offline. Stay tuned for our in-depth review of the OnePlus Open shortly with loads of camera samples and performance benchmarks.