Newsletter
We’ve compared the OnePlus Open to the very best foldable smartphone from Samsung, the Galaxy Z Fold 5, quite recently. That was surely an interesting comparison to make. Many of you are probably holding onto the Galaxy Z Fold 4, though, and trying to decide whether to upgrade or not. So, in this article, we’ll compare the OnePlus Open vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4.
The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is not all that different from the Galaxy Z Fold 4. Samsung did not reinvent the wheel, the company only made some adjustments between generations. The OnePlus Open does bring a lot to the table, so it may be worth upgrading for some of you. We’ll first list their specifications, and will then move to compare them in other ways. We’ll compare their designs, displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio performance.
Specs
OnePlus Open & Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, respectively
– Screen size (main):
7.82-inch LTPO 3 AMOLED display (120Hz, Dolby Vision, 2,800 nits)
7.6-inch Foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X display (120Hz, HDR10+, 1,200 nits)
– Screen Size (cover):
6.31-inch OLED (120Hz, 2,800 nits)
6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X (120Hz)
– Display resolution (main):
2268 x 2440
1812 x 2176
– Display resolution (cover):
2484 x 1116
2316 x 904
– SoC:
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
– RAM:
16GB (LPDDR5X)
12GB (LPDDR5)
– Storage:
512GB (UFS 4.0)
256GB/512GB/1TB
– Rear cameras:
48MP (wide, f/1.7 aperture, multi-directional PDAF, OIS), 48MP (ultrawide, 114-degree FoV), 64MP (periscope telephoto, 3x optical zoom, 6x “in-sensor” zoom, macro)
50MP (wide, f/1.8 aperture, OIS), 12MP (ultrawide, 123-degree FoV), 10MP (telephoto, 3x optical zoom)
– Front cameras:
20MP (main display, f/2.2 aperture), 32MP (cover display, f/2.4 aperture)
4MP (under display, main display, f/1.8 aperture), 10MP (cover display, f/2.2 aperture)
– Battery:
4,805mAh
4,400mAh
– Charging:
67W wired (charger included)
25W wired, 15W wireless, 4.5W reverse wireless (no charger)
– Dimensions (unfolded):
153.4 x 143.1 x 5.8mm
155.1 x 130.1 x 6.3mm
– Dimensions (folded):
153.4 x 73.3 x 11.7mm
155.1 x 67.1 x 14.2-15.8mm
– Weight:
239/245 grams
263 grams
– Connectivity:
5G, LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB Type-C, Bluetooth 5.3/5.2
– Security:
Side-facing fingerprint scanner
– OS:
Android 13 with ColorOS
Android with One UI
– Price:
$1,699
$1,799
– Buy:
Best Buy
Samsung
OnePlus Open vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4: Design
Both of these phones are book-style foldables, but they are quite different in terms of the design. They also feel completely different to hold and use. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is quite narrow in the hand, and it has a very narrow cover display aspect ratio. The OnePlus Open has a regular display aspect ratio on its outer display. The OnePlus Open is slightly shorter, and wider than the Galaxy Z Fold 4. It is also thinner in both folded and unfolded states. You’ll definitely feel that difference when the phone is folded, as it’s huge, actually. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is quite thick.
That being said, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 also doesn’t fold flat. It has a gap when folded, which is something you won’t see on the OnePlus Open. OnePlus’ handset also has a much less noticeable crease that you’ll barely feel under your finger. There is a huge camera oreo included on the back of the OnePlus Open. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 has a much smaller camera island. It has three vertically-aligned cameras in the top-left corner.
The OnePlus Open comes in glass and vegan leather models, while the Galaxy Z Fold 4 includes glass on the back. Both phones have a display camera hole on the outer display. The OnePlus Open also has one on the main display, while the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s is hidden under that main panel. The OnePlus Open is considerably lighter than the Galaxy Z Fold 4, 239 grams vs 263 grams. It includes an IPX4 rating for splash resistance, while the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is IPX8 rated for water resistance. Both phones feel like premium offerings, and are also quite slippery. The vegan leather variant of the OnePlus Open is the least slippery one.
OnePlus Open vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4: Display
OnePlus’ handset includes a 7.82-inch 2268 x 2240 Foldable LTPO3 Flexi-fluid AMOLED display. That panel can project up to 1 billion colors, and supports Dolby Vision. It has a 120Hz refresh rate, and goes up to 2,800 nits of brightness at its peak. The second display on the phone measures 6.31 inches, and it offers a resolution of 2484 x 1116. That is an LTPO3 Super Fluid OLED display. It also has Dolby Vision support, and can project up to 1 billion colors. It has a 120Hz refresh rate too, and the same peak brightness as the main panel. This display is protected by the Ceramic Guard.
A 7.6-inch main display is included on the Galaxy Z Fold 4. That panel has a resolution of 1812 x 2176, and it’s a Foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X display. It has a 120Hz refresh rate, and supports HDR10+ content. That panel goes up to 1,200 nits. The cover display on the phone measures 6.2 inches, and has a resolution of 2316 x 904. That is a Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a 120Hz refresh rate. It’s protected by the Gorilla Glass Victus+. The display aspect ratio here is 23.1:9.
Now, all four displays here are good, but the OnePlus Open’s have some glaring advantages. First and foremost, its displays are much brighter. They go all the way up to 2,800 nits, compared to 1,200 nits on the Galaxy Z Fold 4. On top of that, the OnePlus Open’s main display has a much less visible crease that you won’t even be able to feel under your fingers most of the time. The Galaxy Z Fold 4’s is not only easily visible, but you’ll feel it under your finger, easily. All displays are vivid, and have good viewing angles.
OnePlus Open vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4: Performance
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 fuels the OnePlus Open. The company also included 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM inside of this phone, and 512GB of UFS 4.0 flash storage. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is fueled by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, while it comes with 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of UFS 3.1 flash storage. The OnePlus Open obviously has the edge in terms of spec power.
OnePlus’ handset comes with a newer and more powerful processor, while it also has the superior RAM and storage. On top of that, it comes with more RAM and storage by default. Both smartphones perform really well day-to-day, but the OnePlus Open did feel snappier to us, which is not surprising. They can handle pretty much any game you’ll find on the Google Play Store, though, so no worries there, even though the OnePlus Open is more future-proof in that regard.
Both smartphones have great software too, though quite different. Both software builds cater well to the foldable form factor, though we do believe that the OnePlus Open’s new multitasking is superior. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 has some other software advantages, including a ton of customizability options.
OnePlus Open vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4: Battery
There is a 4,805mAh battery included inside the OnePlus Open. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 has a 4,400mAh battery on the inside. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 offers good battery life at 6-6.5 hours of screen-on-time. At least that was the case for us. The OnePlus Open provided us with considerably more in that regard. It managed to cross the 8-hour screen-on-time mark almost every time we needed it to.
That is to be expected due to the larger battery and more power-efficient SoC. Still, if you’re a heavy user, this difference will likely mean a lot to you. Do note that we did not play a lot of games on either phone, only for testing purposes. We did push them both rather hard, though, with various other tasks, and plenty of multitasking. Your mileage may vary, of course, due to different usage, apps, signal strength, and the fact there are two displays here, so it all depends on which you end up using more.
Now, even if you run out of juice ahead of time on the OnePlus Open, you can rely on fast 67W wired charging. It can fully replenish the battery in just a little bit over 40 minutes. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is much slower when it comes to charging. It, thanks to its 25W charging. The Fold 4 does support 15W wireless, and 4.5W reverse wireless charging, though, which you won’t find on the OnePlus Open. What Samsung’s phone doesn’t have is a charging brick in the box.
OnePlus Open vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4: Cameras
The OnePlus Open has a 48-megapixel main camera, a 48-megapixel ultrawide unit (114-degree FoV), and a 64-megapixel telephoto camera (3x optical zoom, 6x hybrid zoom). The Galaxy Z Fold 4, on the other hand, is equipped with a 50-megapixel main camera, a 12-megapixel ultrawide unit (123-degree FoV), and a 10-megapixel telephoto camera (3x optical zoom).
OnePlus actually uses Sony’s LYTIA camera sensor, which does make a difference in low light. The Galaxy Z Fold 4’s main camera is a bit dated in comparison. It does take good pictures, though. It tends to tune up the saturation, and can oversharpen images at times, but the results are good. We do prefer the images coming from the OnePlus Open, though. They’re a bit closer to real-life, and the phone does a great job across the board.
In low light, the OnePlus Open does keep things a bit darker, but the images end up looking great, and the colors too. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 tends to make low light shots look a bit unrealistic, but they look good at the same time. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 has a wider FoV on the ultrawide camera, but we prefer the results from the OnePlus Open’s ultrawide shooter. The same goes for its telephoto camera.
Audio
Neither of these two phones includes a 3.5mm headphone jack. You’ll need to rely on their Type-C ports if you’d like to connect your wired headphones. Bluetooth 5.3 is included on the OnePlus Open, while the Galaxy Z Fold 4 has Bluetooth 5.2 support for wireless audio.
They both include stereo speakers, though the ones on the Galaxy Z Fold 4 are louder. Both sets of speakers are good, though, as they provide good sound quality, and are well-balanced too.