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00:00So, how the heck have OnePlus swooped in with the Open and made arguably the best foldable
00:05and the one that I would genuinely want to carry around every day and use as my main
00:09phone?
00:10Well, it may be OnePlus' first folding phone, but it certainly ain't Oppo's.
00:15And they're launching an identical Oppo Find N3 in China.
00:19Obviously, they are sister companies, they're under the same sort of umbrella corporation
00:23from BBK.
00:24Really, except for the OxygenOS software and the fact that this is launching here in the
00:29UK and the US and other Western markets, this is essentially an Oppo folding phone.
00:36So let's start with this design and while the ludicrously large camera module may not
00:40be everyone's cup of tea, it does actually make for a helpful little ledge to rest some
00:44of the weight on on your finger.
00:46And I'll forgive it because it's actually a really good camera.
00:49In fact, we have five cameras, three on the back here and then one selfie for each screen.
00:54Although, except for maybe making video calls, most of the time you're going to be using
00:57these main cameras with the cover screen as a viewfinder.
01:01Of course, it folds fully flat as you would expect.
01:04It's lighter than a Samsung Fold 5 and thinner.
01:06We're talking 5.8mm when it's unfolded or 11.7mm when it's folded, which puts it about
01:12halfway between the Fold 5 and the Honor Magic V2, which I do still think offers the best
01:17in class hardware for a foldable.
01:19It comes in two flavours.
01:21This is the Emerald Dusk colour, which is basically just like a nice OnePlus dark green
01:26or should I say Oppo green.
01:28It also comes in a Voyager Black, which actually has a vegan leather material on the back.
01:32This is glass.
01:33We get IPX4 resistance, which means it will survive a splash of rain.
01:37Tougher glass, including a new ceramic guard for the cover screen, not to be confused with
01:42Apple's ceramic shield.
01:44And OnePlus say it's tougher than Gorilla Glass, although the main tablet screen uses
01:48a ultra-thin glass or UTG layer.
01:50I also appreciate OnePlus have added an anti-reflective coating for this main tablet screen.
01:55And again, if I bring in that Galaxy Fold 5 side by side, you can really see the difference,
02:00which obviously is very helpful if you're watching videos and movies on this tablet
02:03screen because the basically square aspect ratio means you're going to get some pretty
02:07chunky black bars if you're watching videos and movies, which is pretty useful.
02:11What's not so useful is how much of a fingerprinty, smudgy mess these screens are.
02:18It literally picks up every little piece of dust and grubby little paw print that you've
02:23put on the screen.
02:25Only bring a microfiber cloth with you.
02:27On the side, we have an alert slider, which I'm always happy to see, a volume rocker,
02:31the power button doubles as a fingerprint reader, plus, of course, we have face unlocking.
02:35We have a triple speaker setup, strangely enough, designed for spatial audio and will
02:39also adapt based on what orientation you're using it.
02:41And they sound pretty good, although there is a bit of distortion and tinniness at the
02:46highest volumes.
02:47So, suspicious travelers, what are you doing in Mondstadt?
02:51But the best bit, no, the two best bits.
02:54If I bring in the Fold 5 again, just look at the difference with that crease.
02:58The OnePlus Open has the most subtle crease I've seen on a foldable so far.
03:03Magic V2 not far behind, and then the Galaxy Fold, and then, well, the Pixel Fold, which
03:07honestly just looks like a prototype device.
03:10OnePlus also used the same Flexion hinge that OPPO introduced earlier this year in their
03:14foldables.
03:15There's a good amount of flexibility in the flex mode.
03:17It feels good in the hand, as the YouTube cliche goes, and just little things like how
03:21it sounds when it closes.
03:22It all feels very well made.
03:24But the second best bit is this cover screen, because thankfully, OnePlus have gone with
03:29a normal 20 by 9 aspect ratio here, which is the same as most traditional smartphones,
03:35unlike, say, the Galaxy Fold 5, with its kind of remote control, super narrow screen, which
03:39just feels claustrophobic to use, especially with your typing.
03:42So I'm quite happy to use this cover screen 90% of the time, and then unfold it if I want
03:46to have a couple of apps side by side, or maybe read an article, or a book, or play
03:50a game.
03:52So on the front, we have a 6.31 inch cover screen, with a 10 to 120 hertz refresh rate,
03:57and opening it up, we have this 7.82 inch, near enough 1 to 1 square tablet screen.
04:04Now this is a slightly higher end screen.
04:06It has a more efficient LTPO3 display, so we get 1 to 120 hertz, also a faster 240 hertz
04:12touch response rate, 1440 hertz PWM dimming, Dolby Vision HDR, and it is insanely bright.
04:19We're talking 1400 nits with regular typical use, and up to 2800 nits outdoor peak brightness.
04:26Although after a few minutes, it will start to dim, but that super duper brightness also
04:29comes in handy when looking at photos in your gallery.
04:32OnePlus call it Pro XDR, again, someone's definitely been copying Apple's homework
04:36when it comes to naming features, but it makes highlights in your photos really pop off
04:41that screen.
04:44Now specs wise, it's as flagship as you would expect for the price.
04:47Have we talked about the price?
04:49£1,600, which yes, is very expensive, especially for a OnePlus.
04:53I'm not sure really if they have that brand recognition yet to charge that kind of price.
04:58We'll see, but actually it's quite competitive.
05:01It's cheaper here in the UK than the Pixel Fold, which is madness to me, and also the
05:05Galaxy Fold 5, and it comes with a better spec, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, 16 gigs of RAM,
05:11and 512 storage.
05:13That's 4 gigs more RAM and double the storage than the base model of the Fold 5, and actually
05:18OnePlus do have some deals and coupons and free stuff with the early orders of this OnePlus
05:23Open.
05:24So you could get it as low as like, I think $1,500 I worked out with some of the sort
05:29of extra benefits.
05:30It is a lot of money, but it's actually not bad at all for a folding phone.
05:34So as you would expect, this is incredibly fast, and it runs every game as flawlessly
05:38as you can right now on Android.
05:40Now in this 20 minute stress test, the OnePlus Open didn't quite match the Fold 5's high
05:47score, but it did beat the low score, and we have a higher stability rating.
05:51You can see on the graph, the Fold's performance starts to dip after just the second run, whereas
05:55the OnePlus barely breaks a sweat until the ninth.
05:58Also look at this, the Fold 5 had used 12% of its battery versus just 5% on the Open.
06:04It stayed cooler throughout, the frame rate was the same, so I would call this a big win
06:08for the OnePlus.
06:09I've also been really impressed with the battery.
06:11Now inside we have a 4,805 mAh cell.
06:16It's a dual cell design, so we've got a big one, I think on this side, and a smaller one
06:20on this side.
06:214,805, which isn't quite as big as the 5,000 mAh we get in the Honor Magic V2, but it is
06:2720% bigger than what we get in the Galaxy Fold 5.
06:30But I did use this and the Fold 5 as similarly as possible over a full day, and I ended up
06:35with about 22% of my battery left on the Fold 5 and 30% on the OnePlus Open.
06:40So this does last a good amount longer, like a good extra hour or so over the Samsung,
06:45and it will comfortably get you through a full day.
06:47However, when it comes to charging, I have some good news and I have some bad news.
06:51The good news is that it does support OnePlus's 67W SuperVOOC charging, which means you can
06:59go from 1% to 100% in about 42 minutes, which makes it one of the fastest charging phones
07:03over a wired connection you can get.
07:05Great.
07:06The bad news is it doesn't support any kind of wireless charging.
07:09None does the Honor Magic V2, and yes, the Galaxy Fold 5 is a little bit thicker, but
07:13that has wireless and also reverse wireless charging.
07:17However, what I think really makes the OnePlus Open stand out and finally give the Fold 5
07:22some proper competition is the software, the features, and the multitasking.
07:26We have this new feature called Open Canvas, and it kind of takes your regular split-screen
07:31view mode to the next level.
07:33You can still have two apps side by side, of course, with a third floating on top, but
07:37in Open Canvas, you've got your main active window front and center, which can be moved
07:41around and resized so you can create a sort of workspace and then quickly switch between
07:46them.
07:46You can have up to three app windows on screen at any point and up to nine multi-app presets,
07:52which can be saved so you can then fire up your favorite combo of apps with just one
07:55press.
07:56I also really like that we have a taskbar.
07:59The Fold 5 also has it, but not all foldables do, and it just makes this feel more like
08:03a desktop experience with your recent apps on the right and your pinned apps on the left.
08:08You can also then easily drag and drop them into split view or floating windows, and also
08:12a long press on the side will hide the taskbar.
08:14You can also choose what happens when you close the tablet screen, whether the app resumes
08:18on the cover screen or you have to swipe up to resume, which is how I use it.
08:21And of course, you can customize how apps display on the tablet screen, whether it's
08:25full screen or their native size so nothing gets cut off.
08:28There's also a handful of apps that make use of putting your phone in flex mode, although
08:32really it's only the camera and YouTube that make any sense to me as it utilizes the
08:35folding design to become its own little stand, which is very helpful for taking remote shots
08:40or watching a video without having to find something to prop it up against.
08:43I also very much appreciate, unlike the Honor Magic V2, that when you do use this cover
08:48screen as a camera viewfinder, you can also send the full camera UI to the front as well.
08:53Just remember to look at the main camera lens and not the screen.
08:57So OnePlus does the folding software just as well as the folding hardware, which is
09:01really important and not guaranteed when it comes to foldables.
09:04They also promise four years of full Android OS updates with a fifth year for security,
09:09which is fine.
09:11It's pretty decent, not quite up there with Samsung or Google, but four years is pretty
09:14good.
09:15Although this does ship Android 13 with their Oxygen OS 13.2 skin, I believe, on top, which
09:21is very nice.
09:21I love Oxygen OS, although I'm told Oxygen OS 14, running Android 14, will be here in
09:26a few weeks.
09:27And finally, let's talk about this camera with a main, an ultrawide and a telephoto
09:32with a three times optical zoom and a surprisingly good six times in sensor zoom, as they call
09:38it.
09:38Surprisingly good seems like the whole theme of this review.
09:41OnePlus are also once again partnering with Hasselblad.
09:44So we have their branding, their color science, their famous shutter button sound, and also
09:48a couple of extra camera modes, including the very artistic super wide X-Pan mode.
09:53More importantly, though, the main lens uses a new pixel stacked sensor, the first on a
09:58foldable and which OnePlus say is on par with the quality of a one inch IMX 989 sensor.
10:04And so far, it doesn't disappoint.
10:06In fact, let's do a quick blind test.
10:09Which do you think looks better?
10:11I can reveal the Samsung's on the left, OnePlus on the right.
10:15One complaint I do have, which is nothing to do with the camera itself, is that OnePlus
10:19have been updating the software for the camera right up until the review embargo.
10:23And there was a pretty sizable update that improved the low light quality of the telephoto
10:26just two days before.
10:28So to give you guys the best idea of how this camera does perform, all shots were taken
10:32with the latest software.
10:33That aside, I'm dead impressed with this camera.
10:36Colors are natural, excellent dynamic range, and I'm really impressed with the zoom.
10:39Even though it's a three times optical, OnePlus are confident enough to put a six
10:43times shortcut in the camera app.
10:45And fair enough.
10:48Now, low light does struggle a little bit more.
10:50Quality is still decent, but it can struggle with slight movements from you or your subject,
10:54resulting in a blurry photo.
10:56So faster shutter speeds will be good to see in lower light.
10:59You do, of course, also have a 20 megapixel tablet selfie and a 32 megapixel front cover
11:04selfie, but you'll always be better off using the main camera.
11:12I would also say that video has never been the strongest point of a OnePlus camera system.
11:17And here, the quality is solid, if not exceptional.
11:20And also, it is a little bit frustrating that there aren't any zoom shortcuts.
11:23You have to manually zoom in and out.
11:40All right, let's try some low light video.
11:43What do you think, Mrs. Tech Champ?
11:44I don't know, it's not my thing.
11:45We're about to get run over as well.
11:47Yeah, it's true, we can't see.
11:48But wait, we can see because I can open the tablet screen.
11:55Look at that.
11:56And then you can see yourself.
11:58Oh, she runs away.
12:01So this is what I'm looking at.
12:02I'm filming on the iPhone right now, but let's switch back to the OnePlus.
12:06And yeah, let me know what you think of the low light video.
12:17Okay, let me wrap this up.
12:24And I think I'd like to revisit this in a couple of months.
12:26We keep seeing new camera updates.
12:28We haven't had Android 14 yet.
12:29But first impressions after a week of use.
12:32First review, shall we say, I love this thing.
12:34It is comparatively priced.
12:35And I would take this over a Galaxy Fold 5, over a Pixel Fold.
12:39And yes, even over the Honor Magic V2.
12:41I prefer the software and the camera on this.
12:44Although I think the hardware is better on that.
12:46But if you do want a tablet in your pocket with a great design, great camera,
12:49great battery life, lovely software, then yeah, get yourself a OnePlus Open.
12:54But what do you think?
12:55Would you be tempted to buy one of these?
12:56And if you've got any questions, let me know in the comments below.
12:58Thank you so much for watching, guys.
12:59If you enjoyed this, a like and subscribe would be fantastic.
13:02I'll see you next time right here on The Tech Chat.