OnePlus Open vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5: a really close call

OnePlus has officially entered the foldable phone fray, going up against the likes of Samsung. In fact, OnePlus appears to have done a surprisingly impressive job in its very first attempt, blending refined hardware with a finely tuned software experience. OnePlus’ folding phone is called the OnePlus Open, and it’s a prime competitor of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5.

OnePlus put ambitious camera hardware inside the OnePlus Open that puts it on par with dedicated camera-centric flagships. It also builds on the company’s lead in battery charging technology, especially when pitted against the top-tier phones from top brands like Apple, Samsung, and Google. Is it a proper Galaxy Z Fold 5 killer? Read on to find out.

OnePlus Open vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5: specs

OnePlus Open vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5: design and hardware

One of the biggest design flaws that Samsung addressed with its current-generation foldable is the display wedge, which has been removed. All previous Samsung foldables have had an open gap when the two halves are shut. This space was an open invitation to dirt, liquid, and other undesirable elements. The Z Fold 5 closes completely flat when it’s shut and doesn’t have this problem.

Samsung made progress this time around by paying special attention to the inner foldable screen and the hinge durability. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 offers IPX8-level protection from dust and water resistance, while the OnePlus Open is limited to IPX4 certification and is less resilient. However, if history and my own experience are any indication, the flexible panel and the underlying hinge parts are still vulnerable. And the worst part is that repairs don’t come cheap.

OnePlus has managed to solve that part of the problematic equation with a gapless design in its first attempt. When the phone is closed, there is no gap left across any edge. Both the phones rely on a metal and glass foundation, but OnePlus once again went for a more exquisite concoction. Where Samsung uses stainless steel and Gorilla Glass Victus, the OnePlus Open embraces a cobalt molybdenum alloy and titanium alloy that is said to be four times stronger than surgical-grade stainless steel.

Coming to the display engineering, the foundation is identical — a flexible Ultra-Thin Glass (UTG) layer. But that’s where the similarities end. Where Samsung adopts Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus, the OnePlus Open takes the Apple approach. The Chinese smartphone maker used what it calls Ceramic Guard, which is said to be 20% stronger than the Gorilla Glass Victus on the Galaxy Z Fold 5.

Even in the aesthetics department, OnePlus has taken an edge over its Samsung rival.  The OnePlus Open stays loyal to the brand’s signature green tone with a frosted glass finish. But it’s the second trim, with a leather finish added to it, that really stands out. There aren’t many phones out there — and certainly not from the mainstream brands sold in the West — that offer a leather-derived look on phones.

Winner: OnePlus Open

OnePlus Open vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5: screens

One of the biggest trade-offs that Samsung made in its quest to make foldable phones more comfortable was making them tall so that one-handed usage is not much of a chore. But in doing so, the company went with a tall aspect ratio for the cover display that really takes its own toll on the user experience because of odd app scaling due of tight horizontal space. On the OnePlus Open, the outer screen is a natural 20:9 format, which means you won’t face any issues with how apps pan out on this panel.

Otherwise, both the panels are as good as one gets on a phone. On the Galaxy Z Fold 5, you get a 6.2-inch HD+ cover screen and a 7.6-inch inner foldable panel with QXGA+ resolution. But the screens are of the AMOLED variety and offer a peak refresh rate of 120Hz. On the OnePlus Open, the outer 6.3-inch display offers a higher 2K resolution, while the inner screen is slightly bigger at 7.82 inches across, with a noticeably higher resolution of 2,440 x 2,268 pixels. Once again, you’re looking at OLED panels with a maximum 120Hz refresh rate.

Both OnePlus and Samsung have baked in their own system-level tweaks for app window management. But the Galaxy Z Fold 5 takes the lead with tricks like DeX, which essentially turns your phone into a PC that offers an Android-derived desktop computing experience on the larger screen. Samsung also makes it extremely easy to use the phone as a secondary monitor for your PC courtesy of the Smart View system.

It’s hard to pick a winner here in terms of sheer quality, as both phones offer screens with a vivid color profile, adequate brightness output, and freaky viewing angles. But if one were to nitpick, the inner foldable screen on the Galaxy Z Fold seems more immersive, and that’s because of the under-display camera tech that virtually hides the round selfie camera and offers an all-screen experience. We’re still going to call it a tie, though.

Winner: Tie

OnePlus Open vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5: cameras

If one were to do a spec assessment, the OnePlus Open’s camera hardware is leaps and bounds ahead of the Galaxy Z Fold 5. On its maiden foldable phone, OnePlus has fitted an all-new Sony sensor with a fundamentally reimagined pixel-level photodiode architecture, which results in photos with more details and tighter control over colors. It’s a 48-megapixel optically stabilized sensor that sits alongside another 48MP electronically stabilized camera for ultrawide capture.

The telephoto camera is the most interesting element here. Despite the phone’s impressively thin profile, OnePlus managed to cram in a massive 64MP periscope-style telephoto camera that offers an optical zoom range of 3x, in-sensor 6x zoom output, and up to 120x Ultra Res digital zoom coverage. The cover screen hosts a 20-megapixel selfie camera, while the inner foldable panel is home to a 32MP sensor.

On the Galaxy Z Fold 5, you get a 50MP telephoto camera, a 10-megapixel ultrawide camera, and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera that delivers 3x optical and 30x digital zoom. This is a regular pancake format telephoto camera, unlike the folded lens system you get on the OnePlus Open that guarantees a much higher zoom output.

To handle selfies, Samsung’s foldable offers a 10MP camera on the front and a 4MP under-display camera sandwiched between the foldable panel halves. But in the latter’s case, innovation comes at a cost. Since the camera is covered by a layer of pixels, the final image turns out noticeably softer, with lost details and a lot of software-side reconstruction done to it.

Winner: OnePlus Open

OnePlus Open vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5: internals

Samsung’s foldable flagship relies on Qualcomm’s 8 Gen 2 chip, paired with 12GB RAM and up to 1TB onboard storage. The OnePlus Open relies on the same processor, but offers 16GB of RAM and half the peak storage at 512GB. There’s also a virtual RAM facility on the table that borrows some of the UFS 4.0 storage and deploys it as dynamic RAM.

OnePlus takes a massive lead when it comes to the power segment. The Chinese brand’s foldable phone features a bigger 4,805 mAh battery. It offers support for 67-watt fast charging, with OnePlus claiming that you can charge the phone from empty to 100% juice in 42 minutes. There is no support for wireless charging here.

On the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, you get a smaller 4,400 mah battery that only goes up to 25W wired charging. However, it offers support for 15W wireless charging and also the facility to juice up other accessories like earbuds at a 5W output by just putting them atop the phone’s rear shell.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5

OnePlus Open vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5: software

Software can make or break a foldable phone, and at the end of the day, it matters a lot whether you prefer Samsung’s One UI experience or OnePlus’ OxygenOS experience. Both foldable phones offer their own take on split-screen app multitasking, allowing up to three apps to stay active at any given time. Native Android apps take full advantage of the larger screen real estate and open into a two-page view.

OxygenOS has cultivated a fandom of sorts for customizability, but it doesn’t offer the same kind of flexibility in tweaking the UI and behavior of apps that One UI 5.1 (or later versions) does. The Samsung Labs toolkit and the Good Lock modules are the best examples of deep system-level customization that isn’t available on any mainstream phone out there, foldable or otherwise.

The biggest advantage that the Galaxy Z Fold 5 has to offer, from a power user’s perspective, is DeX, which essentially gives the phone ChromeOS-like superpowers, especially when it comes to working in a mobile-derived large screen experience. The OnePlus Open, just like its Samsung rival, also offers handy screen-mirroring tools, but Samsung just makes it more convenient to access them.

What works in OxygenOS is an active community, and compared to One UI, OnePlus has been quicker at ironing out software quirks owing to that. Both the phones come with an assurance of four years worth of software updates. It isn’t as good as iPhones or the seven-year update promise Google made for the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, but four years is still one of the best guarantees that Android manufacturers have to offer.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5

OnePlus Open vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5: verdict

There’s only $100 worth of difference between the $1,699 OnePlus Open and the $1,800 Galaxy Z Fold 5. That’s not a negligible gap by any stretch of the imagination, but you have to keep three crucial aspects in mind before you decide to splurge on one or the other. First, Samsung has partnerships with nearly all major carriers and retail outlets, with all doling out attractive offers on its flagship foldable phone. Samsung’s own exchange deals and the freebies (or store credits) that it offers significantly bring down the net hit on your wallet

Another aspect that you need to keep in mind is the fact that Samsung has a far deeper presence in the U.S. market compared to OnePlus, so if you run into repair and part replacement situations, getting it done on a Samsung foldable would be a more convenient experience compared to OnePlus. Finally, that IPX8 certification tilts the longevity scale in favor of that Galaxy Z Fold 5, and that’s an important consideration when it comes to foldable phones.

Digital Trends has reached out to OnePlus regarding the brand’s repair and replacement policy for the OnePlus Open and will update this article upon getting a response. From a value perspective, both phones offer their own set of benefits, but here’s the lowdown.

If you seek the best camera experience and a standout design that feels as close to a normal phone experience, the OnePlus Open is where you should look. If you value brand assurance, can’t live without wireless charging convenience, and appreciate what Samsung has to offer on the software front, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 should be your next foldable phone.