Mats Hellqvist
If the rumors are true, OnePlus will launch its first foldable smartphone sometime this month. The teaser campaign for the OnePlus Open officially started today with a video from Unbox Therapy in which OnePlus boss Pete Lau appears in a kind of interview. Among other things, he talks about the hinge design of the foldable, for which OnePlus or its sister company Oppo apparently has 35 patents.
Not surprisingly, you can close the OnePlus Open without a visible gap in the hinge. A piece of paper was “clamped” in the OnePlus cell phone and the smartphone was then lifted on this sheet of paper without it slipping. You can also take a look at the hardware. However, a fairly large portion of the back is covered to hide the camera module.
The OnePlus Open’s hinge has 31 fewer components than the Oppo Find N2’s. This made it possible to reduce the size by 37%, which of course also benefits the weight. According to Lau, OnePlus is “bringing the best phone to the race”, even if it’s not necessarily one of the early starters in the foldable race. The words fast and smooth also appear, but you would hardly bring a foldable with a slow chipset onto the market. And there’s more good news – the Open will get the well-known OnePlus alarm slider.
According to Lau, the device was jointly developed by OnePlus and Oppo teams, each bringing their unique expertise. He also mentions that there will be multiple go-to-market strategies. This strongly suggests that the OnePlus Open will start in China as the Oppo Find N3. There have been rumors about exactly this for months.
Finally, Lau rejects reports about a OnePlus flip phone. In his opinion, OnePlus does not meet the target group of flip phone buyers.
