OnePlus has confirmed that is working on a foldable to be released this year, but what should you expect?
While the company has confirmed its existence and teased that it’ll be a foldable without compromise, there are still a lot of questions about the OnePlus foldable. Will it be a book-style foldable like the Honor Magic Vs or opt for the clamshell-style fold like the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra? How much will it cost? And when exactly will it be released?
Here, we break down all the latest news and rumours about the upcoming OnePlus foldable, from release date rumours to pricing speculation as well as the latest leaks and unofficial renders.
When will the OnePlus V Fold be released?
We know that the OnePlus foldable will make its debut in 2023 because the company’s President and COO, Kinder Liu, confirmed as much at MWC 2023. Per Liu, the foldable is set to be released “in the coming months”, though no specific date – or even month – was mentioned. He did tease that the “first foldable phone will have the signature OnePlus fast and smooth experience” though.
However, a previous teaser might be able to shed more light on OnePlus’ foldable release plans.
During the global launch of the OnePlus 11 back in February 2023, the company teased that “something phenomenal” is on the way, with a graphic showcasing what looks to be a foldable silhouette with the graphic “Coming in Q3”. That runs from July to September.
Interestingly, OnePlus has confirmed that the OnePlus 11 will be the only flagship this year, leading some to speculate that the OnePlus foldable could take the place of the regular T-series in August.
However, an Android Central source claims that OnePlus will release two foldables in 2023, with a high-end foldable dubbed the Fold “gearing up for launch”, while the second foldable will allegedly make its debut close to the end of 2023. That’s worth taking with the usual pinch of salt, of course, but it’s certainly interesting.
How much will the OnePlus V Fold cost?
While it has always been assumed that OnePlus’ foldable would undercut the price of the competition as the OnePlus 11 does, there hasn’t been much of the way of specifics – until now, that is.
The main source of pricing information is tech tipster Yogesh Brar, a leaker with a pretty solid track record when it comes to smartphone leaks. Per the leaker, the OnePlus foldable (allegedly dubbed the OnePlus Open) will cost less than 120,000 Rupees.
In terms of direct conversion, that equates to £1,138 or $1,448. Of course, it’s unlikely that it’ll be a direct conversion when it comes to release, but it does suggest a price of around £1200/$1500 that could comfortably undercut the likes of the £1749/$1799 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Google Pixel Fold.
We’ll update this section once we hear more, but it certainly sounds promising for the upcoming foldable device.
Will the OnePlus release a clamshell or book-style foldable?
While OnePlus has confirmed that a foldable is on the way, it hasn’t stated whether it’ll sport a book-style fold like the Galaxy Z Fold 5, or a clamshell fold like the Galaxy Z Flip 5.
Interestingly, OnePlus has trademarked names for both form factors in China – OnePlus V Fold and OnePlus V Flip – suggesting that the company could be considering both.
That also aligns with comments from an Android Central source that claims two foldables are on the way in 2023.
However, the fact that Oppo has released the Oppo Find N2 Flip in the UK and most of Europe suggests to us that OnePlus will likely opt for something akin to the book-style Find N2, which, as yet, hasn’t been released outside of China.
The recent appearance of unofficial renders seem to showcase a book-style foldable with OnePlus branding, lending credence to the book-style form factor of the upcoming foldable – though it’s not simply a Find N2 dupe as some had suspected.
Latest OnePlus V Fold rumours
Most of what we know about the OnePlus foldable has come from OnePlus itself during its MWC presentation. OnePlus President and COO Kinder Liu teased that the foldable “will have the signature OnePlus fast and smooth experience”.
He also made it clear that it’ll be a foldable without compromise. “It must be a flagship phone that doesn’t settle because of its folding form, in terms of industrial design, mechanical technology, and other aspects. We want to launch a device that aims to be at the pinnacle experience of today’s foldable market,”.
But what do we know unofficially? Well, there are a few little tidbits floating around the internet that start to paint a picture of the OnePlus foldable phone.
Form factor
Chinese tipster Digital Chat Station took to Weibo to tease key information about the upcoming foldable. Via Google Translate:
“The new OnePlus foldable screen is set to be Q3, and I seem to have gotten some information about the engineering machine, which is a 2K large-screen foldable.”
If true it seems that OnePlus could indeed go for a book-style foldable like the Oppo Find N2. However, the mention of a 2K resolution seems to suggest that the two foldables could differ slightly as the Oppo Find N2 features a slightly lower resolution 1792 x 1920 display.
This was later backed up by unofficial renders of the upcoming foldable shared by the ever-accurate @OnLeaks in collaboration with Smartprix. The renders seem to depict a book-style foldable with a different design to the Find N2, sporting a faux leather back and Hasselblad branding on the large circular camera bump.
Other notable details from the renders include the inclusion of the famed OnePlus alert slider, a triple speaker system and a hinge mechanism that looks to resemble the Oppo Find N2 – though no surprises there.
It’s worth noting that though the renders depict a vegan leather finish, OnLeaks x Smartprix claim that it could also be available in metal or glass finishes by the time it launches later this year.
Cameras
The unofficial renders shared by OnLeaks and Smartprix seem to showcase a triple camera offering on the rear with what looks to be a periscope lens – something not commonly present in foldables.
More specifically, the leakers claim that the phone will sport a 50MP (Sony IMX890) main sensor, an ultrawide and a periscope lens, along with a 32MP (OV32C) front camera.
There also seems to be a small holepunch camera within the internal display, going by the leaked renders, though we’ve not heard anything about megapixel count. It’ll likely match the 32MP external selfie camera – or something close, at least – but this remains unconfirmed.
Performance and battery
Along with the leaked renders, Smartprix suggests that the OnePlus Fold could sport the yet-unannounced (but highly anticipated) Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2 chipset to deliver true flagship performance, though RAM and storage are currently unknown.
It does look appealing on the battery front, with the foldable said to sport a 4,800mAh battery – 400mAh more than the Z Fold 5 – that should deliver all-day battery life. It’s the charging that’s most exciting though, with rumoured 100W SuperVOOC charging said to be available on the foldable. If true, that’ll make it the fastest charging foldable around, leaving the 25W of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 in the dust.
Only time will tell just how different the OnePlus foldable will be from the Oppo Find N2 range, but we’ll be sure to update this article as new information appears.
