It’s been no secret that OnePlus has always had a close relationship with sister-brand Oppo, a relationship that’s only grown closer over the past few years. But it seems that growing closeness is culminating in the OnePlus Open, with CEO Pete Lau confirming that the upcoming foldable will be simultaneously released by both phone brands.
This wouldn’t be the first time OnePlus and Oppo smartphones have been similar to the point of being almost identical. In fact it’s been possible to get an idea of what the next OnePlus flagship could look like based on what Oppo has already released.
But this is the first time both brands will release a new phone at the exact same time, admitting that they are both the same device with a different brand name.
The explanation given is that the new foldable has been a joint development between teams at Oppo and OnePlus. Lau said the idea was to offer a foldable phone with the “best of both,” taking the expertise and experience from both companies to try and create the best foldable phone.
Oppo has past experience developing foldable phones such as the Oppo Find N2 that have been very well received. Meanwhile OnePlus apparently has the benefit of creating “a fast and smooth experience” and pushing the limits of the hardware, according to a statement put out by OnePlus.
This news comes with some revelations about the phone, and the kind of hardware we can expect. The first is that OnePlus will reintroduce the Alert Slider, which had previously been pulled from flagship devices under the guise of freeing up internal space.
The OnePlus Open’s hinge has also been redesigned to improve upon Oppo’s existing designs. The hinge is 37% smaller than the one in the Find N2, while also being stronger and lighter — though it isn’t revealed how much of an improvement there is. But, despite those changes, the hinge still allows the OnePlus Open to close without any discernible gap.
We still don’t know exactly when the OnePlus Open will come out, though the phone itself has been spotted out in the wild. A video posted by Instant Bollywood on Instagram shows what appears to be the OnePlus Open in the hands of Indian movie star Anushka Sharma.
Watch the video closely and you’ll see that she’s definitely holding a foldable of some kind, and the OnePlus logo can be seen just below the camera — and above her hand. We can’t make out much else about the phone from this vantage point, but the fact the phone has been spotted suggests we’re actually getting pretty close to a wide-scale release.
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