There’s a growing market for foldables, and while Samsung has managed to build an early lead in this category with the likes of the Galaxy Z Fold 4, Chinese manufacturers are now turning their attention here.
Xiaomi’s Mix Fold 2 combines a svelte design with stellar cameras and gorgeous AMOLED screens, the Honor Magic Vs is a viable alternative to Samsung that’s launching globally in 2023, and the OPPO Find N2 is one of my favorite devices.
OnePlus software lead Gary Chen revealed earlier in 2022 that the manufacturer is working on a foldable, and that the Android 13-based OxygenOS 13 software will have custom features tailored for that device. While OxygenOS 13 is now official, there hasn’t been much in the way of official information about OnePlus’s foldable efforts. That said, we can make a few guesses on what the OnePlus Fold will offer.
OnePlus Fold: Release date
Thus far, OnePlus has just alluded to the fact that it is making a foldable device, with no mention of a release date. That said, it is likely we’ll see the foldable in early 2023 alongside the OnePlus 11.
The timing coincides with what OnePlus has done in 2022, launching just one flagship at the start of the year. For 2023, it is likely we’ll get the OnePlus 11 series and a high-end foldable — likely dubbed the OnePlus Fold — at the same time.
The information I’ve received from a source suggests there will be two foldable launches in 2023, and while the high-end model dubbed the Fold is gearing up for a launch, the second foldable won’t debut until later in 2023.
OnePlus Fold: Hardware features
OnePlus hasn’t revealed any information about the foldable so far, but we can make a few guesses. For one thing, it’s very likely the foldable will be a derivative of the OPPO Find N2. OnePlus lacks the wherewithal to design and manufacture a foldable of its own, and if you look at the company’s devices over the last five years, they have had a lot of similarities to their OPPO siblings.
The OnePlus 10 Pro has nearly identical hardware to the Find X5 Pro, and OnePlus’s foldable will follow a similar approach. Going this route is sensible as the Find N2 is unlikely to make its way outside China, so there wouldn’t be any cannibalization of sales if OnePlus were to launch the foldable in global markets.
Then there’s the fact that OnePlus would stand to benefit by using the same creaseless design and lightweight hinge that the Find N2 offers. Having used the Find N2 for a while, the size of the foldable gives it a clear advantage over Samsung’s offerings — it’s just easier to hold and use.
We’re likely to get the same 5.4-inch outer AMOLED screen that unfurls to a 7.1-inch AMOLED panel with 120Hz refresh, with both screens featuring an FHD+ resolution.
As for the rest of the hardware, the foldable will use Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 silicon; while MediaTek has made a lot of gains in the high-end category, the foldables we’ve seen so far are exclusively powered by Qualcomm, and that isn’t likely to change soon. It’s also likely to use the same camera array as the OnePlus 10 Pro, and offer the same set of connectivity options.
Foldables don’t have large batteries, and we’re likely to see the same 4520mAh battery as the Find N2 in the OnePlus foldable. We should be getting more details about the hardware once we’re closer to launch, but based on the information I’ve seen so far, it’s clear that the OnePlus Fold will be built using the Find N2 as the foundation.
As to why OnePlus is launching a foldable at all, the fact that the Chinese manufacturer has an established foothold in key markets like North America, the U.K, and India means BBK — the conglomerate that owns OnePlus and OPPO — can get away with rebranding an existing device like the Find N2.
This strategy is similar to what we’ve seen in the last 18 months with the Nord series, where OnePlus has reused existing OPPO mid-range designs and branded the devices under its own label.
OnePlus Fold: Tentative pricing
I don’t have any tangible details of how much the upcoming OnePlus foldable would cost, but considering that it will be based on the Find N2, it should be in the same vicinity as OPPO’s foldable. That means we’re looking at anywhere between $1,300 to $1,500, which would make it $500 more than the likes of the OnePlus 10 Pro.
That’s quite a lot of money, but OnePlus will be aiming to undercut Samsung with its foldable, and if it can manage to launch the device for $300 to $400 less than the Galaxy Z Fold 4, it is likely to attract some attention.
OnePlus’s flagships have always been among the best Android phones, and it is aiming to now do the same with its upcoming foldable. While we don’t have much in the way of information about it right now, that’s bound to change over the coming months. Stay tuned for an official release sometime in Q1 2023, as that’s when my sources say the foldable will be officially unveiled.
With a minimalist design combined with top-tier hardware, standout cameras, ultra-fast charging tech, and a sublime screen, the 10 Pro ticks all the right boxes.