‘OnePlus V’ foldable phones could be coming to take on Samsung Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip

Update: The OnePlus foldable could arrive by September.

Rumors of a OnePlus foldable have been circulating for years, with little to show for them except a fake-out designed to try and outshadow Samsung. Now reports are circulating that OnePlus is working on not one, but two foldables under the “OnePlus V” brand.

This news comes from Twitter leaker Mukul Sharma, who goes by the handle @stufflistingsand claims OnePlus has trademarked the names OnePlus V Fold and OnePlus V Flip. Names that sound like they were deliberately chosen to emphasize the folding nature of the devices.

Sharma’s sources claim that internal testing of at least one foldable device has begun in several regions — with Europe getting a specific name drop. While the extra details are pretty scant, we can speculate on the nature of the devices based on their names. Similarly OnePlus’s close ties with Oppo, which already produces its own foldable phones, could give us a few more clues.

OnePlus V Flip will presumably be a flip phone of some kind, and will presumably be rather similar to the Oppo Find N2 Flip that debuted in China at the end of last year. Unsurprisingly, that device shares a similar clamshell design with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and Motorola Razr. So it has a single 6.8-inch 120Hz display with a hinge in the middle, folding open and closed much like a flip phone.

Other Find N2 Flip specs of note include a 3.26-inch external display, a 50MP main camera paired with an 8MP ultrawide lens, a 32MP selfie camera, a Mediatek Dimensity 9000+ chipset, 44W charging, a 4,300 mAh battery, Wi-Fi 6 and a side-mounted fingerprint scanner.

The OnePlus V Fold will likely bear many similarities with the Oppo's Find N2, a larger screen device that shares design cues with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold range. That foldable features a 5.54-inch full screen display on the outside, and folds open to reveal a 7.1-inch tablet screen. 

The Find N2 also comes packing a triple lens camera with 50MP main, 32MP telephoto and 48MP ultrawide angle lenses. There’s also as 32MP selfie camera, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, stylus support, a Snapdragon 8+ chipset, 120Hz refresh rates on both displays, Wi-Fi 6, 67W charging speeds, and a 4,520 mAh battery.

OnePlus phones aren’t always identical to their Oppo relatives, but they are often very similar. So while some details might change, it’s fair to posit they will bear many similarities with the Find N2 handsets that will be coming to western markets later this year. Which is a good thing, because we had plenty of nice things to say in our Oppo Find N hands-on review. 

We noted its beautiful design, sturdy construction and fantastic displays — though the battery and camera performance were pretty lackluster. Here’s hoping the second generation, and the resulting OnePlus V handsets, can make necessary improvements without sacrificing what made the Oppo Find N so likeable in the first place.

Few companies have taken foldable phones seriously the past few years, and a lot of them were only widely available in China. The original Oppo Find N was a China-exclusive, for example, as are a number of foldable devices made by phone companies in the region.

But that could be changing over the next couple of years. On top of the OnePlus and Oppo foldables that seem to be coming our way, we’ve been hearing rumors about the Google Pixel Fold and Apple’s iPhone Flip (which may actually be a foldable iPad) — all of which can give the likes of Samsung and Huawei a run for their money.

The only question is when we’re going to see them. The OnePlus 11 is due to launch outside China on February 7, but it’s not clear if the OnePlus V range will be making an appearance as well. Our gut feeling is it's not likely, since the phones are still being tested, but stranger things have happened. And who knows, OnePlus may make a surprise announcement in anticipation of a wider launch later this year.