The OnePlus Open will be presented on October 19; We interviewed the top person in charge of the company in Europe.
OnePlus finalizes its big launch: its folding smartphone, the OnePlus Open. It will be its most ambitious device to date and will compete with models from Samsung, Xiaomi, Honor, Huawei and OPPO. It will do so starting October 19 at 4:00 p.m. in mainland Spain, as explained by the CEO of OnePlus for Europe, Bingo Liu, to EL ESPAÑOL – EL Androide Libre in an interview.
The company’s top representative for the continent explains during the interview what the strengths of this new device will be, what can be expected from it, or what the development work with OPPO has been like.
What can we expect from your first folding smartphone?
The OnePlus Open is our first foldable smartphone and we have spared no expense to turn it into a true flagship smartphone in book format. Although the cameras are undoubtedly top quality, we have not only focused on the images, but also on the overall experience that users will get from a smartphone of this format.
The OnePlus Open integrates the iconic fast and fluid OnePlus experience, with a light, thin, compact and durable body, which features articulation mechanics designed to enable almost imperceptible folding, excellent imaging capacity and much more. To further optimize the application and software experience, OnePlus has also brought a new and unique solution with OxygenOS, and we will continue to work with users and partners to improve their experience.
We have also made great progress in several aspects. With our first generation of smartphone of this type, we hope to provide the industry and users with a world-class folding screen experience, thus leading the development of this type of screen. In short, the OnePlus Open is our flagship smartphone that opens up endless opportunities. We want our first foldable device to be the best, a true foldable flagship that meets user expectations.
There is more and more competition in this segment, what will make your mobile unique?
OnePlus is not the first company to launch a foldable smartphone, but now that we take the step, I can assure you that the OnePlus Open is the best foldable phone you can get today. We were clear that if we did it, we wanted it to be the best, so I can say that our OnePlus Open is definitely the best foldable phone in the industry right now. This is a device that will delight the public.
When we were developing the device, we thought of one thing: the biggest benefit of a foldable phone for users is the big screen experience. Our OnePlus Open meets your most fundamental needs, such as ease of transport and a small size, but also offers a larger screen. I think this is the most fundamental need for foldable use, but to enjoy this visual experience, it is essential that the device incorporates high-end functionalities, such as very fast and fluid performance. The combination of all these factors is, in our opinion, what makes a perfect foldable phone.
In this sense, OnePlus has always been known for its fast and fluid system experience, and the OnePlus Open and its foldable screen are not going to be an exception in terms of performance thanks to our collaboration with Google and other software partners. We want to ensure that more apps can be fully displayed on this huge screen, taking advantage of the unique and enhanced user experience it brings. We have spared no expense, as the OnePlus Open offers new possibilities to the most advanced users, thus raising the bar for the foldable mobile category. It is our flagship that opens up to endless opportunities, and we want it to be the best, a true folding smartphone that meets user expectations. At the same time, we also hope that this foldable smartphone, which is unmatched by the rest, will contribute to accelerating the development of the foldable mobile phone sector, which has gone from being a niche to becoming mainstream. All this without losing our identifying features such as the Alert Slider.
We were clear that if we did it, we wanted it to be the best, so I can say that our OnePlus Open is definitely the best foldable phone in the industry right now. This is a device that will delight the public.
How have you worked together with OPPO? Is the technology shared?
This product has been jointly developed by OPPO and OnePlus product teams. This fact has allowed us to combine and leverage the experience of both product teams and the strengths of both brands to create the most powerful device.
We believe it is currently the best foldable smartphone on the market. We have integrated OPPO’s experience in foldable design and imaging technology acquired over the years, as well as OnePlus’ experience in offering an extremely comfortable, soft and lightweight design combined with powerful hardware. In other words, we have used the strengths of both teams to define this product together, and we can confidently say that it is the best foldable product on the market right now.
Why have you decided to release a book format? Is it so as not to compete against OPPO’s N2 Flip ?
OnePlus’ community and end consumers are mainly technology enthusiasts and business elites, including finance professionals, engineers, doctors, and professionals in different fields. They use their phones to work, study, and enjoy immersive entertainment. When the foldable is open, it offers a tablet-like experience, better meeting the needs of our target audience. A great foldable phone can provide improved experiences in all of these areas, which is why OnePlus is currently focusing on book-style foldable phones.
Our market research has also revealed that many foldable users use the outside screen most of the time, so a book-style foldable also ensures that users’ experience is not affected when switching from a single-screen model. .
We have used the strengths of both teams [OPPO and OnePlus] to together define this product, and we can confidently say that it is the best foldable product on the market right now.
Can we expect a Flip in the future?
At the moment all our attention is focused on the OnePlus Open, so we are not looking beyond that and have no plans to launch a flip-style foldable.
Have you had to give up any technology to achieve your foldability?
In line with the Never Settle spirit, our brand motto and symbol of our commitment to offering users the fastest, smoothest and most functional mobile experience possible, we have spared no expense when developing our foldable.
At OnePlus we want our first foldable to be the best: a true flagship phone that brings new possibilities to the most advanced users around the world, raising the bar for this category of mobile phones. Other companies have introduced plenty of innovations, but the first foldable OnePlus will stand out from the rest thanks to its fast and fluid experience, which is achieved through a light, thin, compact and durable body, capable of folding with a mechanical hinge. , designed to allow an almost imperceptible fold and provides excellent image capacity, among other things. In addition, by incorporating the new and unique OxygenOS system, we have managed to further optimize the experience of the software and the use of the applications. One of our main objectives is to achieve the best experience, so we will continue working with users and partners to achieve this.
One of the key points of folding devices is their usability. What role has software development played? What functions have you optimized?
During the development process of this device we have collaborated closely with partners such as Google with the aim of optimizing software experiences for users. Together, we work on optimizing and adapting the big screen experience and developing industry standards, both beneficial for the development of the entire Android ecosystem.
With the new software, we have improved users’ daily productivity, offering them the most efficient and secure operating system to date. Additionally, the software has been optimized to take full advantage of the OnePlus Open’s two screens and around 95% of major apps are compatible with the expanded screen. We have also introduced an innovative software solution at OnePlus Open, but not the only thing we can advance before the official presentation of the device is that it is a very interesting functionality.
What is needed for folding smartphones to be mass phones?
The foldable smartphone range is still in a very early stage of development and has not yet become a dominant segment in the general telephone market. Almost all current foldable phones are high-end products equipped with the most advanced technologies, but users are just beginning to understand and accept this new format. All of this means that folding phones still have a long way to go, but it is undeniable that they have great growth potential within the high-end smartphone market.
Some of the reasons why foldable smartphones have not become widespread are related to form factors such as size, unsatisfactory experience on large screens, software adaptability and lifespan, and high price. As flexible displays, articulation technology, display manufacturing reliability, and software applications continue to improve, the ecosystem around foldable phones will mature. When the user base reaches a sufficient size, and as more brands enter the market and more affordable foldable phones appear, this will cease to be a niche category and become a majority segment in the smartphone market.
After years of learning and research, we are now able to better understand user demands around these types of devices. The OnePlus Open solves the existing weak points for the design, and our traditional user experience, as well as a careful design, excellent imaging capabilities and better performance of larger screens position it a step above the rest of its competitors. At the same time, we also expect this unrivaled foldable smartphone to play a role in accelerating the foldable segment from niche to mainstream.
We expect this foldable smartphone to play a role in accelerating the segment from niche to mainstream.
How will your foldable phone affect the OnePlus catalog?
The OnePlus Open is the first in a new OnePlus series designed to complement our brand’s range of smartphones, alongside the OnePlus flagship series and the OnePlus Nord series.
What upcoming innovations can we expect from the company?
There are innovations underway, but we will share more details in due course.
