I want everyone to love the OnePlus Open as much as I do, but you won't
The Open is actually almost the perfect foldable phone.
It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, but like many of us here in the Android space, I've been lucky enough to use the OnePlus Open for the past couple of weeks. In that time, there are a few things that continue to stand out to me as someone who's been carrying a foldable phone since the Galaxy Z Fold 2.
Reading some of the various reviews, including our own OnePlus Open review written by Harish Jonnalagadda, there's a recurring theme — this is the best foldable phone in the U.S. right now. The last part of that designation is pretty darn important because if you look at foldable phones across the world, it's obvious that the competition is much more fierce than it is here.
Whether it's due to the control that carriers have over everyone or for political reasons that I'm not getting into, we just don't have that many options in North America. Because of that, Samsung continues to dominate the foldable market despite releasing an inferior device.
For as much as I love the Galaxy Z Fold 5, it's inferior to the OnePlus Open in almost every way. OnePlus' first foldable almost ditches the crease entirely, giving you a cover screen that's as close as it gets to a conventional "slab" phone. OnePlus even went so far as to include the hardware mute switch, which is just something that I never expected.
Sure, the mute switch gets caught going in and out of my pocket throughout the day, but who cares? I just slide it back into place and call it a day. On top of that, we finally have a foldable phone (in the States) that can charge faster than 30W.
And that's not even to mention the cameras, which OnePlus claims are capable of surpassing "every Pro" (which sounds like a shot at the newly released Google Pixel 8 Pro). You'll have to wait for my full comparison to see whether the Open is able to live up to those claims. But rest assured, it's definitely looking pretty darn good, even against the likes of the Galaxy S23 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
So why am I still skeptical about this release?
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It's really simple. Carrier adoption. OnePlus doesn't have a bunch of carrier partnerships any longer, and that continues with the OnePlus Open. On the bright side, the Open is coming to both Best Buy and Amazon, along with being available directly from OnePlus.
I really feel like this is a missed opportunity to put pressure on Samsung. It's pretty obvious that Samsung isn't too worried about the competition because it already owns the market, and that trend will likely continue until Apple releases its first foldable phone.
Market stagnation is awful, and it's why I largely prefer foldable phones to slabs because at least there's something exciting to look forward to. Even leading up to the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 5, I was keeping my fingers crossed hoping for a complete overhaul.
Obviously, I've since uncrossed my fingers and will try my best to temper my expectations moving forward. That's not to say that all of our hopes for more modern foldable phones rest on the shoulders of Apple. It's a laughable premise to begin with, as I just don't see an iFold coming until the crease is completely gone because Apple is Apple.
However, while the rest of the world gets to enjoy the fruits of labor from Xiaomi, Honor, Vivo, and even Huawei, I'm not one of those people. I just want the needle to keep moving, and the OnePlus Open moves the needle a lot more than I expected it to. But at $1,699, or even $1,499 if you trade in something like the LG Wing, that's still a tough pill to swallow. At least with carriers, that cost can be subsidized, so you don't have to empty your wallet all at once.
Until that happens, I'll just keep staring out the window as Ben Sin from XDA gets to enjoy the rest of the foldables of the world.
Andrew Myrick is a Senior Editor at Android Central. He enjoys everything to do with technology, including tablets, smartphones, and everything in between. Perhaps his favorite past-time is collecting different headphones, even if they all end up in the same drawer.
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mustang7757 Problem is One Plus went away a little bit from their identity, they follow the parent company OppoReply -
fuzzylumpkin
I agree. I stopped buying OnePlus and started buying Samsung when they basically became wannabe Samsung. Why would I buy wannabe Samsung when I can just buy Samsung.mustang7757 said:Problem is One Plus went away a little bit from their identity, they follow the parent company Oppo
That may not be the case anymore, but I haven't seen them do anything that really distinguishes them. -
mustang7757
I don't think they a wannabe Samsung their Android skin one of the best I experienced on Android . Just the direction they going I don't like .fuzzylumpkin said:I agree. I stopped buying OnePlus and started buying Samsung when they basically became wannabe Samsung. Why would I buy wannabe Samsung when I can just buy Samsung.
That may not be the case anymore, but I haven't seen them do anything that really distinguishes them. -
AndroidFanboy8 Rogers Wireless white lists their devices so I'm kinda on the fence with 5G on Rogers Wireless inaccessible....,☝️🤷Reply -
fuzzylumpkin
Like I say, I don't know about them now because I lost interest. But a few years ago when Oxygen and Hydrogen fused it had a OneUI tang.mustang7757 said:I don't think they a wannabe Samsung their Android skin one of the best I experienced on Android . Just the direction they going I don't like . -
mustang7757
Yeah I haven't had One Plus since 7 pro which I still have with the pop up camera .fuzzylumpkin said:Like I say, I don't know about them now because I lost interest. But a few years ago when Oxygen and Hydrogen fused it had a OneUI tang.
I had 5/6/7 -
Rodawg71
OP7 was the last one I bought. Still have it sitting in a drawer.mustang7757 said:Yeah I haven't had One Plus since 7 pro which I still have with the pop up camera .
I had 5/6/7 -
mustang7757
NiceRodawg71 said:OP7 was the last one I bought. Still have it sitting in a drawer.
I got the McLaren 7T pro 5g
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