Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 vs OnePlus Open: Hold some, fold some

Samsung's latest foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Fold 5, is here imbued with the hopes of establishing an even stronger foothold on the foldable market. Perfecting the formula with some surgically implemented enhancements, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is a culmination of Samsung's multi-year advances on the scene. Seemingly, it's trying to extend its lead as an industry leader. 

Meanwhile, Samsung's biggest competitors are also picking up steam and coming up with their own foldables. After the Google Pixel Fold became the first foldable with stock Android, OnePlus is next in line to reveal its own foldable phone in 2023. Possibly coming very soon, the anticipated device will set itself apart with some unique features as well as an unorthodox name for a foldable: OnePlus Open.

The OnePlus Open seems like it's ready to pounce on the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and give it a run for its money. Samsung's latest foldable phone has scored some important design improvements that were a long time coming, but hasn't evolved that drastically for the past few generations. Could this apparent stagnation give OnePlus a chance for success?

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We can tell one thing about the OnePlus Open's purported design. It will undeniably be a OnePlus product, employing the same and impossible-to-mistake design language that OnePlus has been treating us to for years.

OnePlus would use an inward-folding foldable, just like the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the Google Pixel Fold. However, OnePlus is said to be eager to boost the ante by using a little bigger display than its two competitors: the OnePlus Open is said to have a 7.8-inch internal screen, a 0.2-inch larger display than the Galaxy Z Fold 5. Not a very big difference, but a difference nonetheless. 

At the same time, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is similar to its predecessors from a design perspective, but features an improved hinge that allows for a zero gap between the panels in the phone's folded state. This makes for a much cleaner and sleek appearance which has certainly been missing from previous instances of the Galaxy Z Fold. 

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is an IPX8-rated device, which essentially means you can dunk it in freshwater for up to 30 minutes. There's no dust resistance, so protect your gadget accordingly. We don't know if the OnePlus Open will score a similar IP rating, but we are definitely hopeful that it will be protected from the elements to some extent.

Colors-wise, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 keeps things fresh and classy with Cream, Phantom Black, and Icy Blue, as well as the Samsung.com-exclusive Blue and Gray. OnePlus phones don't really have a good track record of being available in many and exciting colors, with the selection usually boiling down to black and another muted color. Thus, we don't really expect the OnePlus Open to be available in too many vivid colors; in fact, we won't be surprised if we only get it in black, the Batman way. 

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 comes forth with a 7.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X internal display with a very smooth 1-120Hz refresh rate and a 6.2-inch outer screen of the same type with a slightly less impressive 48-120Hz. As all Samsung AMOLEDs, the Galaxy Z Fold 5's displays is a joy to use and look at, with vivid colors, adequate brightness, and great viewing angles. There's a visible and palpable display crease, but it's not that of a big deal to most foldable phone fans. 

As mentioned, the OnePlus Open will feature a 7.8-inch internal screen. Naturally, it will be an OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and high resolution, as per the leaks. The resolution is currently pegged at 2560 by 1440 pixels for the inner display. We don't have exact specs on the external screen, but it would probably be in the 6.3–6.4-inch ballpark. 

Seemingly, the OnePlus Open will employ a slightly wider external screen, which could be a tad more usable than the relatively narrow TV remote-like external screen on the Galaxy Z Fold 5. Surely, the latter is good for some tasks, but nothing beyond replying to notifications and some quick Google searches; it's the internal display that's intriguing here and the one you want to use.

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 comes with the 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip for Galaxy on deck. It's an improved and slightly faster version of the latest and most powerful Snapdragon chipset out there. 

The Galaxy Z Fold 5 chip can run at 3.32GHz at its best, a 0.12GHz improvement over the regular Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip. Keeping the chipset cool is a larger vapor chamber in comparison with the Galaxy Z Fold 4. With exceptional performance, especially in the graphics department, as well as great efficiency, it's certainly a highlight on the Android hardware scene, and without a doubt an excellent. In terms of storage, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 comes with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB of UFS4.0 storage. 

What do we know about the OnePlus Open's specs? We are almost certain that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 would be making an appearance on the upcoming foldable phone. We will most probably get the regular, slightly slower 3.2GHz version of the chipset. The rumor mill claims that there will be just a single storage/RAM version of the OnePlus Open, with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. 

Both devices are getting proper flagship-grade hardware inside, befitting their flagship status. 

Judging from the leaked renders and the rumor mill's ramblings, the OnePlus Open will include the following camera configuration: a main 48MP wide-angle camera, another 48MP ultra-wide snapper, and finally, a 64MP telephoto lens with undisclosed zooming capabilities. 

The cameras will most likely be housed in a circular camera island, similar to the one seen on the OnePlus 11, and will be tuned by Hasselblad. You will be able to capture selfies with either an external 32MP or an internal 20MP camera. None of the cameras appear to be hidden behind the display, as seen on the newest Galaxy Z Fold phones. Not a big loss, as the Galaxy Z Fold 5's internal selfie camera probably doesn't deliver superb selfies. 

Meanwhile, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 doesn't score any specific improvements over its predecessor. It comes with a 50 MP main camera, a 10 MP zoom camera with 3X optical zoom, and a 12 MP ultra-wide camera. There are two selfie cameras on the Galaxy Z Fold 5 as well: a 10MP housed in a punch-hole on the outer screen, and the intriguing but low-res under-display selfie camera on the inside, measuring at 4MP. Under normal use, you can sort of make out where the display mesh is coarser, but suspending your disbelief does wonders here. 

Surely, the performance gains brought together by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 have also allowed Samsung to deliver some software changes to the image processing of the Galaxy Z Fold 5. For the most part, however, we expect images taken with the new phone to not be that different from its predecessor. 

Rumor has it the OnePlus Open will come with a sizeable 4,800mAh battery, which is definitely promising and falls on the upper frontier as far as foldable battery capacity goes. That's 400mAh more than the 4,400mAh battery that makes an appearance on the new Galaxy Z Fold 5. We do hope that the OnePlus Open will 

The latter didn't score a capacity improvement, but we hope that the efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 to slightly improve battery endurance. In any case, anything beyond a full day of use is likely a stretch with the Galaxy Z Fold 5. 

One area in which the Galaxy Z Fold 5 might get severely beaten is charging. While Samsung's latest foldable boasts 25W wired charging and 15W wireless charging, the OnePlus Open is rumored to arrive with 67W fast wired charging on board. This will definitely allow for extremely fast charging, probably in the 30-40-minute range, which would make it one of the fastest-charging foldables potentially available in the US. 

How do the OnePlus Open vs Galaxy Z Fold 5 specs measure up? Well, we only have an official confirmation on 50% of that comparison, so until the OnePlus Open goes official, we wouldn't know the full  treat the table below with some 

The OnePlus Open has the potential to beat the Galaxy Z Fold 5 in certain areas if OnePlus plays its cards right. Despite Samsung's apparent lead, the OnePlus Open sounds like quite an ambitious project that could even out the playing field on the foldable market. 

Starting at $1,799 for the entry-level version, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is one premium phone that will go on sale this very August. Meanwhile, we hope that OnePlus would keep the pricing aggressive enough to successfully rival its Samsung adversary. 

Although it's still just too early to draw any conclusions, the OnePlus Open has all the makings of a very serious competitor to the Galaxy Z Fold 5. This would make the foldable scene quite intriguing, and in the end of the day, it will be us the customers that will benefit the most.