What you need to know
- Michael Fisher visited the OnePlus headquarters to see how the phone is tested.
- The device uses a refined version of the hinge used in OPPO phones, with fewer parts and lighter materials.
- The phone is put through rigorous durability tests that drop, poke, and twist the phone.
- The OnePlus Open launches on October 19.
The OnePlus Open is only days from launching, but Michael Fisher, aka MrMobile, got to spend some time checking out how the company tests the foldable and how it's improved the hinge.
During his visit to the OnePlus headquarters in Shenzhen, China, Fisher got some hands-on time with the Open, showing off the internal folding display (although he couldn't show off any software). He notes how the crease is much shallower than other foldable phones, particularly those you'll find in the U.S. market, like the Pixel Fold and Galaxy Z Fold 5.
He compares the reduced crease to the one found on OPPO foldables (the Find N3 Flip, for example, has an impressively shallow crease) and explains that the one found in the Open is a refined version of OPPO hinge, using only a "nice" 69 parts compared to the 100 parts in a current OPPO phone. This is to reduce complexity and weight, which is also helped by using lighter alloys in the hinge and a carbon fiber support layer under the display.
For durability, OnePlus is apparently using a lubricating oil to enhance water resistance and exposed adhesive to capture dust particles. That said, it's still unclear if the Open will have an IP rating, but with all the durability tests OnePlus conducts, it seems likely.
In another facility, Fisher watches the phone go through some rather rigorous tests. One machine drops the phone from one meter onto steel, and the phone will only pass if it survives 30 drops with no cosmetic impairments or 75 drops with no functional failures, a number that increases with another machine that drops it from an even smaller height.
There are also various tests that continuously press the various hardware buttons, plug and unplug from the USB-C port, and simulate sitting on the phone while it's in someone's reach pant pocket. The phone must also survive 10 minutes of water being sprayed onto it from various directions.
The result is a phone that OnePlus is apparently very confident about, especially after more than a year of research and 92 different prototypes. We should learn more about the OnePlus Open when it launches on October 19, but for now, you should definitely check out Fisher's video.
