OnePlus Open is a foldable contender

techcrunch.com:

In the earliest days of foldables, simply participating was enough to get people to take notice. With every new player on the scene, however, it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish oneself from the crowd. As we barrel toward the end of 2023, Samsung is far from the only game in town. We’ve got Google, Motorola, Huawei, Honor and, of course, Oppo, among others.

What makes the category a fascinating one at the moment is the lack of consensus around the specifics of form factor. Unlike the broader smartphone space, we’re still seeing a good bit of experimentation. That’s not something you can always say in the world of consumer electronics, and it bodes well for the category’s future that not everyone decided to simply copy Samsung.

For my money, The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and Google Pixel Fold are terrific takes on the concept. The first prioritizes space, embracing the bygone days of clamshell dumbphones. The second is a good balance of portability and maximum screen size — the internal screen is also an ideal shape and size for reading, which has become my foldable priority of late.

When I first saw the OnePlus Open, I wasn’t impressed. At first glance, the company appeared to have gone the Galaxy Fold route that defined foldables’ earliest days. But using is believing, I suppose. The company’s first foldable has been slowly winning me over for the past week or so. The Open is an attempt to maximize screen size, without hitting an untenable weight. There are sacrifices, among them the loss of wireless charging.

This, too, initially struck me as an odd choice. It’s 2023 — nearly 2024, as a matter of fact. Surely any company that opts not to include wireless charging on such an expensive premium smartphone is going to