OnePlus Open Review: This Folding Phone Puts All Others On Notice
OnePlus Open Software And User Experience
OnePlus phones have always featured great software, and the Open is no
exception. It runs OxygenOS 13.2 on top of Android 13, which – despite
sharing code, design, and features with Oppo’s ColorOS – continues to
deliver a wonderful user experience. OxygenOS remains fast and refined,
and offers helpful customizations without deviating too far from stock
Android. Most importantly, it isn’t as heavy-handed as Samsung’s OneUI.
Remember Samsung’s Flex Mode? The Open comes with a similar feature. Apps that support it can split their interface into custom top and bottom halves when the phone is partially open. For example, the camera app will switch from a full-screen viewfinder with settings and controls distributed around the edges to a viewfinder located on the top half with settings and controls grouped on the bottom half. Same with YouTube.
Remember Samsung’s Flex Mode? The Open comes with a similar feature. Apps that support it can split their interface into custom top and bottom halves when the phone is partially open. For example, the camera app will switch from a full-screen viewfinder with settings and controls distributed around the edges to a viewfinder located on the top half with settings and controls grouped on the bottom half. Same with YouTube.
Open Canvas allows you to group up to three apps on the inner screen. Simply drag an app from the taskbar onto the display. The first app runs full screen; the second app splits the screen in two; the third app lands either to the right or below the other two apps, partially off-screen. You can then resize and move these apps around as you please. Tapping on an off-screen app displays it and nudges one of the other apps off-screen.
If you want to display a group of apps without one of them being off screen, simply pinch 4 fingers together and Open Canvas will scale the group of apps to fill the inner display, with letterboxing. Pinch 4 fingers apart to go back. You can also use the same 4-finger gesture to shrink a single full-screen app down to a floating window. It’s pretty clever. Open Canvas even lets you drag-and-drop images between apps.
The taskbar has also gained a couple new tricks. You’ll find a recent
files folder in the taskbar, which shows a two column thumbnail view of
the images, documents, and other files (like APKs, for example) that
you’ve recently accessed. When you’re not on the home screen, tap and hold
the area immediately to the left or right of the taskbar to hide it. Tap
and hold the same area again to bring the taskbar back.
Finally, we’re happy to report that OnePlus is now promising four years of OS upgrades and five years of security updates, so the Open will likely be useful for several years before getting recycled. In addition, our review unit shipped with almost zero bloatware. Besides the familiar Google apps plus a handful of OnePlus apps, it only came with Netflix pre-installed, which is arguably useful, and easy to remove.
Finally, we’re happy to report that OnePlus is now promising four years of OS upgrades and five years of security updates, so the Open will likely be useful for several years before getting recycled. In addition, our review unit shipped with almost zero bloatware. Besides the familiar Google apps plus a handful of OnePlus apps, it only came with Netflix pre-installed, which is arguably useful, and easy to remove.
OnePlus Open Price And Competition
Here in the US, the OnePlus Open is available unlocked from OnePlus,
Amazon, and Best Buy in Emerald Dusk and Voyager Black for $1699
(16/512GB). Preorders start Oct 19 (today) and open sales begin Oct 26.
OnePlus is also offering a permanent $200 trade-in credit ($1000 max) with
any phone in any condition, plus free Buds Pro 2 and 0% financing for 24
months. This effectively drops the price of the Open to just $1499.
The Open’s main competition is Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold5 ($1799) and Google’s Pixel Fold ($1799). While both offer wireless charging – unlike the Open – both also come with less base RAM and storage (12/256GB). The Open features nicer cameras than the Galaxy Z Fold5 and a better processor than the Pixel Fold. If you live abroad, check out the Oppo Find N3, Vivo X Fold 2, Xiaomi Mix Fold 3, and Honor Magic V2.
The Open’s main competition is Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold5 ($1799) and Google’s Pixel Fold ($1799). While both offer wireless charging – unlike the Open – both also come with less base RAM and storage (12/256GB). The Open features nicer cameras than the Galaxy Z Fold5 and a better processor than the Pixel Fold. If you live abroad, check out the Oppo Find N3, Vivo X Fold 2, Xiaomi Mix Fold 3, and Honor Magic V2.
OnePlus Open Review Conclusion
The Open clearly marks a new chapter for OnePlus. With this phone, it
feels like the merger with Oppo is finally complete, and OnePlus has hit
its stride. It also looks like OnePlus is done playing second fiddle to
Oppo, and is finally able to compete head-on with heavyweights like
Samsung. At $1699 $1499, the Open brings unrivaled value to book-style
folding handsets – not to mention superb hardware, excellent cameras, and
great software.
We also like the beautiful displays, quality speakers, fantastic performance, solid battery life, and wired fast charging. Adding it all up, we firmly believe the OnePlus Open is the best book-style folding phone available in North America today. It’s also among our top five favorite handsets of 2023, and that's no small feat. So, if you can live without wireless charging, we highly recommend the OnePlus Open.
