digest
Short Summary
Main recommendation: The OnePlus Open is a very strong first-generation foldable and a top-tier phone overall, but folding phones are still not a mainstream buy because of price, durability concerns, and their appeal to power users. Marques Brownlee argues the hardware has matured enough to impress enthusiasts while still facing obstacles before regular buyers adopt them.
Key Points
- The OnePlus Open is $1700 US, which is expensive, though he notes it is in line with the Pixel Fold and Samsung Z Fold 5 at $1800 each.
- The phone's cover display is the brightest he has seen in a smartphone at 2800 nits max, and he co-crowns it with the Pixel Fold as the best foldable to use while closed.
- The inner display is a 7.8 inch LTPO display with one of the least visible creases he has seen in a 2023 folding phone.
- Durability is a concern: after three weeks of use, dead pixels began appearing near the bottom middle of his screen, close to the hinge.
- Folding phones remain "power user" products, and power user features historically don't sell well, citing LG, Sony, and Asus as examples of niche-focused phone makers struggling.
- Lower-priced flip phones like Samsung's Z Flip 5 (about $1000) and Motorola's Razr 40 (about $600, launching soon) may bring foldables closer to the mainstream.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions: No step-by-step instructions are given. The only actionable advice is for buyers to weigh price, durability, and whether they are power users before buying a folding phone, and to consider lower-priced flip models if cost is the barrier.
- The phone has IPX4 water resistance and a durability rating for one million folds of the hinge, which he notes is good on paper.
- Specs include a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB UFS 4.0 storage, a 4800 mAh battery, and 67 W wired fast charging, but no wireless charging.
- Software is OxygenOS 13.2, with continuity features that mirror the home screen between the cover and inner displays and triple-panel multitasking.
- Camera performance is good in most conditions but weaker at freezing motion; action mode raises ISO and adds noise.
- He calls the HONOR Magic V2 the most compelling folding phone hardware he's seen yet, priced around $1400, though its durability is unknown.
Bottom Line
Folding phones like the OnePlus Open have reached impressive hardware maturity, but high prices, durability uncertainty, and niche appeal mean they are still mostly for enthusiasts until cheaper models become widespread.
