OnePlus Foldable Phone: News, Leaks, Price Rumors and Release Window

The foldable segment has seen an increase in launches over the last year or so. While Samsung dominates the foldable range with its Fold and Flip range, its offerings have faced stiff competition from Huawei, Oppo and others. OnePlus, known for its killer flagships and some great budget phones, will also be making a foray into the foldable segment this year. The company’s longtime OnePlus foldable phone will debut later this year, and if the price is right, could give the Galaxy Z Flip and Fold a run for its money.

Since OnePlus is owned by BBK, the company can rely on the expertise of Oppo and Vivo to ensure that its first foldable device offers a great user experience. This is something that will become clear once the phone boots up. For now, below is a summary of everything we know about the phone that was once rumored to be the OnePlus V Fold, but some new reports suggest the phone is called the OnePlus Open. As we are not clear on the name, we will refer to it as both names in this article.

OnePlus foldable phone: design and specifications

Thanks to the leaked renders, the OnePlus Fold design has already been revealed. Like the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Pixel Fold, the OnePlus Fold will have a book form factor, where you open the device to reveal the larger internal display. In the images, the huge circular camera housing dominates the back of the phone, with a prominent Hasselblad branding in the centre.

Leaked renders of OnePlus V Fold

While difficult to ascertain, dark renders show the cover screen on the V Fold extending from corner to corner. It doesn’t feel as cramped as the Galaxy Z Fold’s outer display, which should facilitate one-handed use. Apparently, this is a 6.3-inch OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. As for the internal foldable screen, it’s presumably a 7.8-inch flexible OLED with 2K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate.

Premium OnePlus phones are known for packing powerful internals, and the OnePlus Fold is expected to follow the same trend. A recent leak indicates that the phone will use a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. A 4,800mAh battery will power the internals and support 67W fast charging. It will be slower than the OnePlus 11’s 100W fast charging, but should still be enough to fully recharge the battery in around 30-40 minutes.

Other specs revealed by the rumors include a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, Alert Slider, and dual-SIM 5G connectivity.

OnePlus Foldable Phone: Cameras

If the leaked specs are accurate, the V Fold won’t use the same camera setup as the OnePlus 11. The company may be using slightly older 48MP sensors to keep the price of its foldable in check.

The foldout will reportedly house a triple camera setup, including a 48MP primary, 48MP ultra-wide-angle, and 64MP telephoto. A 32MP camera on the outer display and a 20MP shooter on the inner foldable display will perform selfie duties. The Hasselblad branding will remain, so expect photos from the OnePlus Open to have similar color adjustment to the OnePlus 11.

From what it seems right now, if you want a foldable with the best camera performance, you may need to look elsewhere, as the OnePlus V Fold may fall short in this department.

OnePlus Foldable Phone: Software

In addition to hardware, a foldable phone must have optimized software that takes advantage of its unique form factor. This is where Samsung is way ahead of its rivals, with One UI packing several improvements specifically for foldable devices. While OnePlus’ OxygenOS was once the community’s favorite Android skin, its quality and stability plummeted after the company merged its code base with Oppo’s ColorOS.

More than a year since the two companies began sharing a unified codebase, things have gotten better. However, OxygenOS has lost the trust of the community, with OnePlus now slow to roll out updates for its devices. For the OnePlus V Fold to be successful, OnePlus will need to add new foldable-specific features to OxygenOS that will take greater advantage of the internal foldable screen. There should also be changes to the taskbar to make multitasking easier.

All these improvements will also benefit the OnePlus Pad, so the company certainly has the incentive to do so. Whether or not the company commits to this is something time will tell.

OnePlus foldable phone: price and release date

OnePlus has confirmed that its first foldable phone will arrive at MWC 2023 this year. So, it’s only a matter of time before the product becomes official. The exact name hasn’t been confirmed, and while the OnePlus V Fold has been the long-rumored name, more recent reports suggest the phone will be called the OnePlus Open instead.

A leak suggests that the OnePlus Open could launch at an event in New York City in the first half of August. The company typically holds an event in New York for the launch of its major devices, so the rumor has some credibility. A big launch event will allow OnePlus to get everyone’s attention to its first foldable, which is what it wants. Like the OnePlus 11, the V Fold is expected to see a global debut at launch in all major smartphone markets around the world.

As for pricing, rumors have been reading about it. OnePlus is known for cutting the competition by offering excellent value for money with its product. The company may be doing something similar with the OnePlus Open by pricing it at around $1,500. This will make the device a few hundred dollars cheaper than the Google Pixel Fold and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, allowing it to attract customers interested in foldable devices with its attractive price points.

OnePlus will face stiff competition from Samsung

The OnePlus V Fold could launch right around the time Samsung’s 2023 foldable range goes on sale. All the leaks so far suggest that the Galaxy Z Fold 5 will include minor improvements over its predecessor. But with the right set of tweaks, including better battery life and foldable-device-specific optimizations, Samsung could continue to dominate the foldable device market.

The Google Pixel Fold is also impressive, considering it’s the company’s first foldable. While the OnePlus Open may eclipse it hardware-wise, it’s hard to beat the Pixel Fold’s software experience, which should get even better once Android 14 arrives.