Why the OnePlus Open 2 situation is terrible for phone fans
For the last months mobile fans have been watching the Oppo Find N5 foldable phone news with interest, as it was widely expected to be very similar to the OnePlus Open 2, which unlike the Oppo phone would almost certainly be released in the U.S. during 2025. Unfortunately, OnePlus has crushed our hopes for such a phone, and clearly stated in a blog post that it has, 'made the decision not to release a foldable this year.'
That's right, no OnePlus Open 2. Here's what it means, and why it's bad news.
For those who don't know, Oppo entered into a partnership with OnePlus in 2021, when the two brands (both were also once separate parts of the defunct BBK Electronics empire) began working closely together on software and hardware. The OnePlus blog post shared on its Community Forum starts out by saying the company has been observing the tech world's interest in the Oppo Find N5, and the anticipation for a OnePlus version of the phone.
'At OnePlus, our core strength and passion lie in setting new benchmarks and challenging the status quo across all product categories,' the company wrote. 'With that in mind, we've carefully considered the timing and our next steps in foldable devices, and we have made the decision not to release a foldable this year.'
There's no ambiguity here. It's very clear that not only will the OnePlus Open 2 not be coming this year, but there won't be a compact foldable to challenge phones like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 or Motorola Razr Plus either. The post goes on to say, 'while this may come as a surprise, we believe this is the right approach for us at this time,' and adds how it's going to let Oppo 'take the lead' in foldables.
If the Find N5 isn't going to morph into the OnePlus Open 2 in 2025, there would be no point in it doing so in 2026 either, as it would be too far, technically, behind the curve. Few would be excited about a rebranded 2024 foldable in 2026. It seems OnePlus has given itself an entire year to assess how it next approaches foldable phones — it calls this a 'pause' and a 'recalibration,' indicating it's not leaving the space completely — but in reality it may have even longer to ponder.
The Oppo Find N3 arrived at the end of 2023, around the same time as the OnePlus Open. Oppo was happy to let the Find N3 continue on throughout 2024 (skipping the Find N4), while OnePlus vaguely refreshed the Open with the OnePlus Open Apex Edition mid-way through the year. The Find N5 looks all set to be a considerable step forward over the Find N3, not least because it will take the crown of 'world's thinnest foldable phone' from the Honor Magic V3.
For this reason, Oppo may decide the Find N5 will carry its big-screen foldable hopes well into 2026. OnePlus and Oppo worked together on the Find N3/Open, meaning it's unlikely OnePlus will go it alone on the development of an Open 2 and will wait to jointly develop a sequel to the Find N5 with Oppo. When OnePlus decides it's ready to make another foldable phone, it's possible such a device won't arrive until well into 2026. By that point, it may as well follow Oppo's odd naming decision and call it the OnePlus Open 3.
There are two big reasons why this is bad news. The first is a continued lack of variety in big-screen foldables in the U.S., where it's the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, or nothing. Both these phones are great — the Pixel 9 Pro Fold was one of my personal favorites last year — but without competition, prices won't drop and brands won't feel the need to quickly innovate. OnePlus will tell you the OnePlus Open Apex Edition is its 2025 foldable, but we all know this is marketing spin. It's a facelift Open, which was released at the end of 2023.
It's also bad news for adoption, crucial to the growth of foldables in general, and this may be the unsaid reason OnePlus has decided against a foldable this year: they just aren't selling enough to make it worthwhile. Data collected by Counterpoint Research at the end of 2024 showed global foldable phone shipments decreased slightly between July and September, and that Samsung ruled the market with a 56% share. Tellingly, this number was substantially down on its 70% share for the prior period.
This wasn't an unforeseen event. In its Worldwide Foldable Phone Forecast released in early 2024, research firm IDC wrote, 'Foldables were a hard sell in 2023, as many vendors struggled to move significant inventory. The market has not fully embraced the form factor. High prices and longevity remain a challenge to both consumers and vendors.'
However, it's not like other brands aren't finding success with foldables. Vivo and Xiaomi gained ground in 2024 with the X Fold 3 Pro and Mix Flip respectively. Honor continues to build interesting and innovative folding phones, as does Tecno with its Phantom series. OnePlus's decision (or Oppo's decision, depending on how you view the partnership) may see it fall behind the competition over the next year. But because the overall Oppo/OnePlus business won't suffer due to the Find N5's existence, it's only BUYERS that suffer, particularly in the U.S. where the other foldables mentioned aren't officially sold.
The death of the OnePlus Open 2 in 2025 is bad news for us, but does it leave OnePlus in a terrible position for the year? No, absolutely not. It has kicked off 2025 with what I'm beginning to think is the best phone it has ever made, the OnePlus 13. There are very few downsides to it, and the aggressive price means it really should be at the top of anyone's list when considering other phones like the Google Pixel 9 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus. I think it should be seriously considered over the Galaxy S25 Ultra too. The OnePlus 13R is also well worth your attention.
Even without the Open 2, OnePlus is well on its way to a stellar 2025, but the OnePlus 13's resounding success is somewhat bittersweet, as if it brought the same magic to the Open 2, along with a modest strategic price drop, it could have stolen the market from the aging (and a bit dull) Galaxy Z Fold 6, and pricey Pixel 9 Pro Fold. But now, sadly, all discussion of the OnePlus Open 2 has become a case of 'what could have been.'
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First, there's the distinct lack of a secondary telephoto camera, or failing that, one capable of AI-powered zoom at larger magnifications. Then, there's the poor quality selfie camera. Finally, there's the smaller sensor sizes. Each of the Ultra competitors solves one or more of these issues, and as we'll see, that makes a significant difference to the overall pictures captured. Let's take a look. few common differences between the iPhone 16 Pro and its Ultra competitors. First, most competitors feature dual telephoto lenses, and all but Samsung offer a minimum capture distance of just 10cm. The net result is far better zoom capabilities than those available on an iPhone today. The iPhone 16 Pro is also limited to just 25x zoom, and there is significant degradation past 10x. Meanwhile, Samsung is strong at up to 30x, and Oppo, Xiaomi, and Vivo all prove capable at up to 100x zoom. To take it a step further, Vivo and Xiaomi also offer add-on lenses that can significantly extend the zoom. Let's take a closer look at how each camera compares to the iPhone 16 Pro and what lessons Apple can learn from its chief rivals. Comparing to the Galaxy S25 Ultra in Dubai Huawei was the first to make periscope telephoto lenses popular on smartphones, but Samsung was the first to define the term Ultra in smartphones. The Galaxy S20 Ultra delivered exceptional zoom, and one key selling point was the performance at higher magnifications. The iPhone 16 Pro is limited to a maximum magnification of 25x, while the Galaxy S25 Ultra can go up to 100x. You likely won't use that on the latter, but it does mean great performance at the 30x magnification, as we'll see. Galaxy S25 Ultra (left), iPhone 16 Pro (right) At 1x, both phones are fairly evenly matched under the Dubai sunshine, although the Galaxy S25 Ultra has much better color reproduction thanks to the higher saturation. While the iPhone 16 Pro is technically more accurate, Samsung's color science has always skewed towards saturated, and it works wonders for landscapes and scenes like this. 5x zoom photo captured with 5x telephoto lens: Galaxy S25 Ultra (left), iPhone 16 Pro (right) Both phones feature a periscope lens offering 5x optical zoom, so how do they compare? This is probably the best indication of the difference in the overall results with that lens, and looking closely at these results shows that Apple's lower resolution 12MP telephoto struggles to match the detail captured by the 50MP telephoto on the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Apple's color science once again skews natural, but this is less of a concern in this scene. 10x comparison: Galaxy S25 Ultra (top), iPhone 16 Pro (bottom) The power of two telephoto lenses starts to kick in once we go into hybrid or digital zoom. Comparing the same 10x photo captured on both phones, the degradation in the iPhone 16 Pro zoom photo has become obvious. The degradation is fairly subtle so the finaly image is still completely usable, but it's definitely visible. 30x Galaxy S25 Ultra (left) vs iPhone 16 Pro 25x (right) Rounding off this comparison at 30x, the iPhone 16 Pro photo has actually improved over the quality in the previous photo. This isn't always the case, and there are plenty of other examples of higher degradation at these magnifications, but here the differences are more nuanced. The iPhone 16 Pro picture has better colors but lesser detail, while the Galaxy S25 Ultra has better detail but a less visually appealing photo. Throughout the past four months, I've yielded similar results to these. Like the Google Pixel 9 Pro, the iPhone 16 Pro is limited in its zoom capabilities, but considering the Pro Max version is priced at $200 below the Galaxy S25 Ultra, these phones are all designed to compete against each other. For Apple, Samsung doesn't pose the largest threat. Rather, it's the innovation by other companies to push the boundaries of smartphone photography. Vivo and Oppo both have incredible phones that pose a threat to Apple's camera appeal in the biggest smartphone markets in the world (outside of the US, where they're not available). Comparing to the Oppo Find X8 Ultra and Vivo X200 Ultra in Paris Vivo has been pushing the boundaries with smartphone cameras for years, and the Vivo X200 Ultra is no different. It's an incredible all-around smartphone that shows you don't need a secondary telephoto to capture incredible photos. The triple camera setup on the X200 Ultra prioritizes parity between lenses so that you can shoot with any lens and get similar results with minimal loss of quality. The one key downside to the Vivo X200 Ultra is the starting 35mm focal length; while it's designed to replicate what your eye can see, it makes comparisons really hard and feels jarring when you come from the wider cameras on most phones. Oppo has taken a somewhat different approach with the Find X8 Ultra. It's designed to have parity between the different lenses, ensuring that you don't suddenly lose quality in a photo or video when you switch between the different lenses. It includes two periscope telephoto lenses and while there are differences between the color science across the four lenses, maintaining parity in the resolution is a worthwhile endeavor. During a recent trip to Paris, I managed to test these three cameras out. Let's first start at the Eiffel Tower. For these lower magnifications, the Vivo has the brightest image but the Oppo captures the most detail. The iPhone 16 Pro mostly keeps up with its rivals, but the trend continues with images lacking color and vibrancy. As we go above 5x, the iPhone starts to struggle as it has done consistently throughout my testing. This is the biggest issue with Apple's approach to the camera: it doesn't heavily use AI to enhance captured photos, and it lacks the hardware to offer strong zoom at above 5x magnification. It's a problem that would be solved with a secondary, longer telephoto lens. Alongside daytime, both the Oppo Find X8 Ultra and Vivo X200 Ultra have proven extremely capable at night as we'll see below. Although the iPhone 16 Pro does struggle with zoom, it's still incredibly capable in lowlight. Here it has my favorite overall photo, as it has less flare from the lights and the photo visually appears to be clearer. There's little difference between Oppo and Vivo, but Apple is the winner here. This was an interesting test as there's a lot of detail, there's street lights providing background glow and it would challenge many phones. The Vivo X200 Ultra fails to capture the correct light balance here, but it captures the most detail. The lighting is slightly warm on the iPhone, but it takes the most balanced photo overall again. Without doubt, the Oppo Find X8 Ultra has the best all-around set of pictures in this scene. In particular, the 3x photo is fantastic as the phone adjusts for lens flare from the bulbs underneath the canopy, which makes the scene sharper. I dislike the Vivo's odd focal lengths again, as they feel strange but that's a personal preference. Vivo's photos are perfectly fine here, although it struggles with some of the lighting. The iPhone does well overall, but it overexposes most scenes resulting in less vibrant images. Testing the portrait mode I saved the best for last: the Oppo Find X8 Ultra is my current smartphone camera of choice, for everything from capturing memories to capturing content on new gadgets. Most of the content I use on social media, in articles, and even in video has been captured on the Find X8 Ultra, which proves to be the most versatile smartphone camera I've ever used. I've found that parity amongst the lenses works wonders during regular use, and the use of a 1-inch sensor in the main camera means you can get incredible light. It has f/1.6 aperture, which also allows it to capture stunning bokeh. It's fast become my favorite portrait mode hardware, although I still prefer Samsung's color point mode. Here's some comparison of the portrait mode across all three devices. The larger sensor of the Oppo Find X8 Ultra helps capture far more light, and the color spectrum sensor works wonders in ensuring that white balance remains accurate throughout the image. At both focal lengths, the Oppo takes the best photo, but Apple isn't far behind so better hardware and finer tuning could yield these results from an iPhone. The final test yields a clear victory for Apple. Despite the different focal lengths (these were all captured at the maximum permitted in the camera's viewfinder), there's fantastic color reproduction and dynamic range in the picture captured on the iPhone. The Oppo Find X8 Ultra is close behind, but the Vivo X200 Ultra is too aggressive in smoothening skin tones and textures. Why Apple should embrace the Ultra culture There are several reasons why Apple should adopt the trend of launching an Ultra smartphone with the very best mobile photography capabilities. The main one is obvious: Apple has positioned the iPhone as a creator's dream, but while it's the best for video, an Ultra phone would also allow it to be one of the best for photos. Beyond this, however, there are four main reasons. First, Samsung has proven that Ultra cameras make sense. The higher sale price, likely higher margin, and ability to attract people who are price-insensitive all make sense in Apple's current business model. Second, Samsung's cameras will eventually match the iPhone for video, meaning Apple will need to compete in photography as well. Third, Apple would inspire an ecosystem of additional products. Companies like Moment have built entire additional ecosystems around photography and videography on the iPhone, but providing them with better hardware would inspire the next generation of mobile photography apps and services. Fourth and finally, product differentiation. The rumored thin iPhone 17 Air and reported low sales of current-generation phones, such as the iPhone 16 Plus, suggest that Apple's lineup may have stagnated. An iPhone 17 Ultra (or future generation) would offer a product that can stand alone from its siblings. Considering the iPhone 17 Air is expected to be the more expensive phone in the lineup, an Ultra model could help Apple push even higher pricing. For now, this is the Ultra phone to use Unsurprisingly, the Oppo Find X8 Ultra remains my smartphone camera of choice, at least for photography. The iPhone will stay in my pocket for video (and as my primary phone for sensitive apps), but the Oppo Find X8 Ultra will continue to be my phone of choice for all my photos. Although the Vivo X200 Ultra takes better photos than its rivals at many focal lengths, I've found that Oppo is slightly better at others, and I prefer Oppo's color science. Furthermore, ColorOS is far smoother, with a more intuitive interface that allows for quick changes to settings and features. Then there's the Galaxy S25 Ultra, the only Ultra phone you can buy in the US. I hope that Samsung adopts a 1-inch sensor in a future Ultra phone, as well as better telephoto cameras, which would likely bring it to parity with the competition. For now, at least it still has the best portrait mode of any smartphone.
