OnePlus, subsidiary of Chinese multinational Oppo, has announced its first challenger for the flagship foldable phone space, throwing down the gauntlet to more established rivals like Samsung and Google. The Open rocks a durable hinge, 2K 120-Hz OLED displays and Hasselblad-branded cameras.

“The OnePlus Open provides unparalleled hardware, innovative software features and services built around the new form factor, continuing to live up to OnePlus’ Never Settle belief,” said company president and COO, Kinder Liu. “With the launch of the OnePlus Open, we are thrilled to bring an uncompromising flagship foldable experience to users worldwide. The OnePlus Open is a true flagship that will revolutionize the foldable market.”

When folded ready for stowing in your pocket, the outer AMOLED (LTPO 3.0) screen measures 6.31 diagonal inches, has a 2,484 x 1,116-pixel resolution for a 20:09 aspect, a peak brightness of 2,800 nits, and a 10-bit color depth. There’s also a 32-megapixel holepunch fixed-focus camera for 4K video at 30 frames per second.

Folded-out across the Flexion hinge – which has been tested to a million folding actions by TÜV Rheinland, equating to a hundred opens and closes per day for 10 years, according to the company – the LTPO 3.0 main display is 7.82 inches from corner to corner. It has 2,440 x 2,268 pixels at 426 ppi, boasts 10-bit color depth and covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, a dynamic refresh rate from 1 Hz up to 120 Hz, and a touch response up to 240 Hz. There’s a 20-megapixel selfiecam available in this mode.

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The green model with matte-glass back measures 11.7 mm (0.46 in) thick when in smartphone mode, and 5.8 mm (0.23 in) when folded out for phablet use, while the vegan leather back on the black flavor makes that one a tiny bit chunkier. Either way, OnePlus has included its signature three-position alert slider to allow for quick toggling between ring, vibrate and silent alert modes.

Inside is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform with support from 16 GB of RAM (with software acceleration) and 512 GB of UFS 4.0 storage. As well as cooked-in 5G mobile internet, the handset comes with Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 7. And it runs the Android-based Oxygen OS 13.2 out of the box.

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Around back is a triple camera bump packing Hasselblad imagery know-how. This sports a 48-megapixel main based around the new Sony LYT-T808 stacked CMOS sensor with a F1.7 aperture, 24-mm (equiv) focal length, optical image stabilization and autofocus. Next up is a 64-MP periscope telephoto with 3x optical image stabilization, up to 120x “Ultra Res” digital zoom and 6x in-sensor lossless zoom. And finally, there’s a 48-MP ultra-wide featuring a Sony IMX581 sensor and offering a 114-degree field of view plus a macro mode. Users can look forward to Dolby Vision 4K video at 30 fps, 1080p slow-mo at 480 fps and an “Ultra Steady” Full HD video mode at 60 fps.

The phone lacks a 3.5-mm jack so if you want to plug in earphones rather than go true wireless, you’ll need to do so via the USB-C port. Finally, the 4,805-mAh battery can be topped up from almost empty to full in 42 minutes when plugged into the included 67-W fast charger.

The OnePlus Open is priced at US$1,699.99, and the pre-order window is open now prior to general sale from October 26.

Product page: OnePlus Open