OnePlus Open — release date, price and specs for OnePlus' first foldable

The market for foldable phones has another contender, now that the OnePlus Open has made its official debut. First teased at Mobile World Congress this past spring, the notebook-style foldable from OnePlus looks to go toe-to-toe against similar phones from Samsung and Google.

OnePlus took the wraps off the Open during a OnePlus Open live event on October 19.

The OnePlus Open boasts larger displays than the competition, but even more eye-catching is its price. With a regular starting price of $1,699, the OnePlus Open costs $100 less than the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Google Pixel Fold. A trade-in offer from OnePlus drops the price even lower.

Can the OnePlus Open live up to expectations? You can read our OnePlus Open review to find out. Otherwise, here's what you need to know about the latest device to challenge for the title of best foldable phone.

OnePlus Open specs

OnePlus Open pricing and availability

After its October 19 debut, the OnePlus Open goes on sale October 26. As noted above, the Open costs $1,699/￡1,599. That gets you a 512GB device with 16GB of memory. In contrast, the $1,799 Galaxy Z Fold 5 comes with 256GB of storage.

As part of a preorder deal, OnePlus will accept trade-ins — you can present any phone in any condition for a $200 rebate, dropping the price of your phone to $1,499. OnePlus says that promotion will continue through the lifetime of the device.

While $1,699 is a still a lot of money, it's less than what phone makers have charged for a notebook-style foldable. (Foldable flip phones cost around $1,000 these days.) Both the Galaxy Z Fold and Pixel Fold start at $1,799, giving OnePlus a pricing edge over its closest rivals.

OnePlus Open design

The most notable thing about the OnePlus Open design is how closely the device matches the size of a conventional smartphone when folded shut (although a closed OnePlus Open is much thicker than a standard smartphone, obviously). At 6.03 x 2.88 x 0.46 inches, the Open isn't as wide as the Pixel Fold or as narrow as the Galaxy Z Fold 5.

The OnePlus Open unfolds to reveal a 7.82-inch screen, which is more display real estate than you get with the foldables from Samsung and Google. The Open's Flexion Hinge helps the device unfold, and OnePlus touts how compact it is — 69 parts compared to an industry average of more than 100 parts for a hinge. That frees up more space inside the phone, according to OnePlus.

Even with the compact hinge, OnePlus is promising a durable device with the Open. The hinge went through 1 million test folds, with OnePlus estimating the hinge can hold up for a decade of folding and unfolding. The OnePlus Open also offers IPX4 water-resistance, which means it can stand up to a splash but not full immersion like the Galaxy Z Fold 5 can.

At 8.43 ounces, the OnePlus Open is fairly light for a foldable. The 8.92-ounce Galaxy Z Fold 5 previously set the standard for portability.

You'll be able to get the OnePlus Open in either Emerald Dusk (it's kind of green) or Voyager Black.

OnePlus Open displays

The 7.82-inch AMOLED panel that serves as the OnePlus Open's main display features 2440 x 2268 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. The design of the hinge keeps the crease to a minimum, addressing a common complaint with foldable displays.

On the outside of the phone, you get a 6.31-inch cover display that boasts a peak brightness of 2,800 nits and a 120Hz refresh rate. As with the interior display, the OnePlus Open's cover display is larger than what you see on competing foldable phones.

OnePlus Open cameras

OnePlus has teamed up with lens specialist Hasselblad on recent flagships, and that partnership is once again on display with the OnePlus Open's camera setup. The rear camera array features three lenses — a 48MP main camera joined by a 48MP ultrawide shooter and a 64MP telephoto lens. That latter camera can deliver a 3x optical zoom.

OnePlus is particularly proud of the main camera which uses a "pixel stacked" Sony LYT-T808 sensor that's built to take in more light by stacking pixels to free up more space. The end result should be brighter, clearer photos with less risk of overexposure.

You get two selfie cams on the OnePlus Open. The outer display features a 32MP sensor while there's a 20MP shooter on the interior display.

OnePlus Open Performance and battery

The best Android phones these days turn to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for maximum performance, and that's what OnePlus has done with its foldable. Since the Galaxy Z Fold 5 also uses a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 as its chipset — though the one in Samsung's foldable is optimized for performance — we should see pretty similar numbers when we benchmark the OnePlus Open.

OnePlus equipped the Open with a 4,805 mAh battery — a pretty sizable power pack for a foldable phone. When it's time to recharge the phone, you should see some pretty fast speeds, thanks to the Open's 67W SUPERVOOC charging feature. According to OnePlus, that can fully charge the phone after just 42 minutes.

One thing you won't find on the OnePlus Open is wireless charging support. OnePlus had to cut costs somewhere to deliver a less expensive foldable, and it sounds as if wireless charging got the axe.

In terms of connectivity, you'll get Wi-Fi 7 support with the OnePlus Open, along with dual 5G cellular connectivity.

OnePlus Open software and special features

Foldable designs give phone makers the chance to introduce new capabilities that take advantage of the extra screen space. In the case of the OnePlus Open, that feature is Open Canvas, OnePlus' take on multitasking.

With Open Canvas, you get active windows which can be any size you wish. The OnePlus Open can display up to four app windows at any one time. Canvas also supports up to nine multi-app presets where you can group together apps to run at once; the OnePlus Open will remember your presets so that you can launch them more easily.

There'a taskbar at the bottom of the Open's main display as part of Canvas, and it includes a Recents folder. It's here where you find recent photos, saved images and edited documents for quick access.

The OnePlus Open ships with Android 13. OnePlus will offer four years of software updates plus an additional year of security support.

OnePlus Open outlook

Now that the OnePlus Open is here, we'll be interested to see how it matches up with other foldables. With its big screens and low price tag, the OnePlus Open immediately emerges as a device worth taking seriously if you've been considering a move to a foldable device.