The OnePlus Open is a fresh take on the foldable phone. Here's a hands-on look and how to preorder.

OnePlus entered the US market for tablet-hybrid foldable phones on Thursday with the launch of the OnePlus Open, which is available to preorder now and set for release on October 26. 

The design of OnePlus' first foldable strikes a more accessible middle ground between the latest competing foldables, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Google Pixel Fold, and it comes at a considerably lower price than both phones.

Among other noteworthy specs, the OnePlus Open has a five-camera system and a singular slate of multitasking features.

OnePlus Open: Price and release date

The OnePlus Open costs $1,699 and comes with 512GB of storage. It's available to preorder now from OnePlus, Amazon, and Best Buy ahead of an October 26 release date. 

OnePlus is offering a minimum $200 off the OnePlus Open when you trade in "any phone" at "any condition" through its website. 

Discounts aside, the OnePlus Open's MSRP comes in $100 below the prices of the starting Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Pixel Fold models with half the storage ($1,799 at 256GB), and well below both phones' 512GB models ($1,919). 

OnePlus Open: Hands-on impressions

The OnePlus Open is noticeably lighter in the hand than both the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the Google Pixel Fold, and its 6.3-inch exterior display offers the closest approximation to a traditional flat phone that we've seen in this form factor. 

Whereas the exterior displays of the Z Fold phones are oddly narrow to the point of being hard to use, and the Pixel Fold's width and weight set its exterior display back a bit, the OnePlus Open is the first foldable that offers a truly welcoming experience as a phone, in addition to being a featherweight, 7.8-inch tablet. 

The OnePlus Open comes in two colors, Emerald Dusk, a matte green with frosted glass, and Voyager Black, which has a black vegan leather cover. We are testing the former, which is technically the "heavier" of the two lightweight models at 8.64 ounces, compared to the Voyager Black's 8.43 ounces. 

Though further testing is needed for a full review of the phone's performance, the OnePlus Open runs quickly and smoothly through the Android operating system and between and within apps thanks to its high-end Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor — which powers the OnePlus 11 and many of the best Android phones — and to the dynamic 1-120Hz and 10-120Hz refresh rates on its interior and exterior displays, respectively.

OnePlus' ongoing partnership with Hasselblad produced a versatile five-camera system on the OnePlus Open, though the resulting, massively protruding rear camera bump is one of the phone's few blemishes. 

The 48MP main camera has a new "Pixel Stacked" sensor from Sony that boosts the lens' light in-take and enhances low-light photography. Its 64MP telephoto camera has a 3x optical zoom, but it can zoom up to 6x using the phone's sensor and up to an absurd 120x with a software-based Ultra Res zoom. The capable 48MP ultrawide and selfie cameras at 20MP (interior) and 32MP (exterior) round out a system that, overall, produces high-quality photos, along with video at up to 4K resolution and 60 frames per second. 

While fully or partially unfolded, the OnePlus Open can run up to three apps on-screen at the same time, and the phone's Open Canvas software allows you to dynamically adjust the size and position of open windows and switch between apps in a variety of ways. It also has a desktop-like taskbar with a "Recents" folder, a feature new to the foldable form that allows you to quickly access downloaded files and drag them into open apps. 

The Open's "Flexion Hinge" resembles the "Flex Hinge" of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 on the exterior, but it produces a significantly less noticeable crease when the Open is unfolded, relative to the prominent creases on the Z Fold 5 and Pixel Fold. 

A notable drawback is that, like the OnePlus 11, the Open lacks wireless charging. The Open does come with a proprietary 67W fast charger, however, and in our preliminary use, its 4,805mAh battery has lasted throughout the day while alternating between phone and tablet modes. 

OnePlus Open: Specs