Sorry, Google! The incredible OnePlus Open makes the Pixel Fold look like a prototype

Sorry, Google! The incredible OnePlus Open makes the Pixel Fold look like a prototype،

Is 30 to 60 minutes enough to make a foldable phone? I don’t know. We may have to ask Google.

While I’ll leave the technical comparison between the OnePlus Open and Pixel Fold to my colleagues, I’m allowing myself to be biased here – that’s what editorials are for anyway. But remember… “biased” is not a bad word. In the context of smartphones, preferring one phone over another is a personal choice, and yes, “confirmation bias” is more than real. For example, I might be more willing to choose the iPhone 15 Pro Max as the best phone of 2023 because I find it more suited to my needs – I have a Mac; I like the reliability of the iPhone; it now has an awesome camera system and so on.

However, there are some cases where certain devices do certain things so much better than certain other devices, that it is almost undeniable how superior they are – subjective and objective; with or without bias.

And this time, this phone is the OnePlus Open. And the other phone is… the Pixel Fold…

You can fight me on this, but I firmly believe that the OnePlus Open is the first ever tablet-style foldable phone on the global market (in the US and Europe in particular) that doesn’t come with a full bag of compromise.

OnePlus Open beats the Pixel Fold in virtually every way possible as the US and Europe get their first truly awesome foldable phone.

The Pixel Fold’s only two advantages over the OnePlus Open seem to be wireless charging and premium water protection.

Overall, it might be easier to point out what OnePlus Open does not do better than Pixel folding. The Open is only IPX4 water resistant, while the Pixel Fold’s rating goes up to IPX8. This means that the Open can splash, but the Pixel can be submerged in water without breaking. Hopefully. I wouldn’t try it.

The other obvious advantage of Pixel folding is that it supports wireless charging. This is a bizarre omission on the OnePlus Open for which there is no excuse, if you ask me. So if you’re someone who likes to charge wirelessly…here you go.

But that’s pretty much where the Pixel Fold’s winning streak ends as far as I’m concerned. The screens, design, processing power, camera hardware, and battery strongly move OnePlus’ way.

The OnePlus Open’s big screen makes the Pixel Fold look like a prototype, and it’s a bigger deal than you think

Video courtesy of Ben Sin (XDA).

Without a doubt, the biggest difference to notice between OnePlus Open And Pixel folding are the displays. But I’m not here to tell you the obvious. Yes, the OnePlus’ screen sizes seem more practical; yes, the Pixel Fold’s massive frames are… massive; and yes, the fold of the OnePlus Open is almost invisible compared to that of the Pixe Fold.

However, the OnePlus Open’s two screens are simply much higher quality than those of the Pixel Fold, making the practical disparity quite large.

While the cover and the interior screen of the OnePlus Open are in fact brighter than those of the Pixel foldingthe larger interior screen features an anti-glare coating that makes it millions of times easier to see outdoors or in any direct light.

THE Pixel folding? Well, as you can see in the video above (courtesy of XDA’s Ben Sin), the Pixel Fold’s interior screen looks like a shiny toy next to the Open’s. But it also looks like a toy. It’s soft to the touch, plasticky (because it lacks the thin glass layer of the Open) and it stains incredibly easily, making it look “dirty” more or less at all times. Not to mention that being a plastic screen it is more difficult to clean.

OnePlus Open dominates the Pixel Fold in almost every area; has a truly amazing camera and great battery experience

The Pixel Fold (left) is a bit too short and wide, while the Galaxy Z Fold 5 (right) is too tall. The OnePlus Open offers the best balance in terms of size.

The large screen is why you buy a tablet-style foldable tablet, making this category extremely important. This also means that this comparison might as well stop there. But there is still more…

For one thing, the OnePlus Open’s camera system is light years ahead of that of the Pixel Fold. Make no mistake, the Pixel folding always takes great photos thanks to Google’s expert image processing. However, the OnePlus Open is pretty much the first foldable with a camera system that rivals “normal phones”.

For example, low-light photos taken with the zoom and ultra-wide cameras of the OnePlus Open are not only great, but some of the best I’ve ever seen. The reason is that the sensors on the Open’s zoom and ultra-wide cameras are the same size as the sensor on the Open’s main camera. Pixel folding. On the other hand, the Pixel uses some of the smallest zooms and ultra-wide sensors, while the main shooter is also behind that of the Open.

Speaking of zoom, OnePlus used a bit of black magic in the Open’s 3x zoom sensor, which takes 10x zoom photos that rival those of any phone except the Galaxy S23 Ultra – the only phone in the world with a dedicated 10x optical zoom camera. .

How? I really do not know. My educated guess would be via image interpolation, which combines data from the 3x zoom camera and the 48 MP main camera + some scaling.

OnePlus’ first foldable phone is Google’s biggest slap in the face in a while, proving Google rushed the Pixel Fold

It’s almost as if OnePlus saw what Samsung and Google were doing and decided to create a foldable that falls right in the middle in terms of form factor.

If the superior screens and cameras weren’t enough, the OnePlus Open is also much lighter than the Pixel Fold, which makes a huge difference in practice. Meanwhile, the battery situation is also better on the Open, which despite having the same cell size as the Fold, offers a more efficient chip and much faster charging (with the charger included in the box ).

In the end, the OnePlus Open is effectively $500 cheaper (at launch) than the Pixel folding if we match the two for storage (512 GB). Considering OnePlus also gives you a fast charger and a beautiful case in the box, the value difference here is pretty big.

Combined with the fact that the OnePlus Open is technically and practically superior to Pixel folding In almost every way, it’s safe to say that the Open is a big slap in the face of Google and its foldable ambitions.

It’s almost as if OnePlus said, “See, Google… This is how you challenge Samsung.” »

Both OnePlus Open And Pixel folding are the first foldable phones from both respective companies, but one of them (clearly) took the time to create something that I would actually want to use on my “normal” phone (or at least give it a good chance). Meanwhile, the Pixel folding This looks like one of the prototypes OnePlus made but was never proud of. Especially when you look at the interior screens (which, again, are the only reason you’d buy a foldable). But what does this mean for Google and the Pixel folding? Well, that means the Pixel folding is not a foldable that I want to use, or can recommend, given that the OnePlus Open exists (and is sold on the same markets). It also makes it very clear how desperate Google was to deliver a foldable phone in an attempt to (finally) enter the market, giving it the “Google stamp of approval.” And that’s cool for a software company but not cool enough for a phone maker.

Any competition is good, especially considering Samsung’s hegemony in the global foldable market, which has made the South Korean company lazier than ever. But the OnePlus Open is not just any phone but a statement, showing OnePlus’ determination to make the best foldable phone on the market and become a leader. And the Pixel folding This is not the case.