Testbench
SMARTPHONE TEST
This folding phone offers a triplecamera setup made in collaboration with Hasselblad. Joshua Waller takes a detailed look
The OnePlus Open is the firm’s only folding phone. It’s a rather impressive first attempt as well, with a priority being put on the Hasselblad cameras on the back. But could this be one of the best folding phones for photography?
Design and features
Often because of space and design complications of the folding system, the camera setup can be a bit lacking compared to non-folding phones. Not with the OnePlus Open, which has put a strong emphasis on the triplecamera system on the back.
The first camera to mention is the main 48MP wideangle camera, with an f/1.7 aperture, optical image stabilisation (OIS), and phase detection autofocus (PDAF). This gives pixel-binned 12MP images, and uses a 1/1.43in sensor. It’s joined by a 48MP ultra-wideangle camera with an f/2.2 aperture. This also features PDAF, which can be used for close-ups. Again, this gives pixel-binned 12MP images, and has a 1/2in sensor.
There’s also a high-resolution 64MP telephoto camera with an f/2.6 aperture, PDAF, and optical image stabilisation. The telephoto camera can be used for close-ups, gives pixel-binned 16MP images, and also uses a 1/2in sensor.
One of the useful things about dual-screen smartphones is that you can use the main cameras for selfies, portraits, and group photos.
This means you don’t have to use the lower-quality selfie cameras.
However, if you do want to use the selfie cameras, then you’ve got a 20MP f/2.2 inner camera and a 32MP f/2.4 outer camera. However, it’s worth noting these have much smaller sensors than the main cameras and therefore quality is likely to be lower.
The OnePlus Open looks like, and feels like, a premium folding phone, with a quality of construction up there with the best, yet the price is really rather competitive, at £1,399 currently. This is still significantly more than many flagship phones, but not much more than the highermemory options available from Samsung and Apple.
Other folding phones include the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the Google Pixel Fold. Both currently cos
