Robert Triggs / Android Authority
TL; DR
- A liqueur suggests that a OnePlus foldable phone is in the works.
- The leak suggests that the phone – or the Oppo Find N – may be based on a complete copy.
- Find N was not launched outside of China and is much smaller than the competing foldable.
Last year, the OnePlus sister company completed its full integration with Oppo. Brands have always been involved, but now all pretense is gone. Companies share everything from R&D and design teams to software developers. The only thing they share is marketing staff.
With that in mind, it should be surprising that the initial rumors of the first OnePlus foldable phone (via Damn it) Suggests that it may be a copy of Oppo’s only foldable phone: Oppo Find N. The Find N was launched in China late last year but has not been made in any other country.
See also: The best foldable phone you can get
Significantly, the Find N is much smaller than anything like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3. It has a well-designed hinge that helps it close seamlessly, much nicer than Samsung’s hinge which leaves a small gap when closing.
It is possible that Oppo is not bringing Find N to any other country to give OnePlus the honor of launching its own foldable. Obviously, if the phone is based on Find N, then the co-location of both phones in the same market would be meaningless.
However, in addition to budget-based models, OnePlus tends to change its products from the Oppo. It is possible that the two phones will co-exist in some markets if OnePlus is able to change the design enough to keep them unique.
OnePlus Foldable: When?
We saw a leaked roadmap for the smartphone launch from OnePlus and a foldable was not in it. Therefore, we probably won’t see the OnePlus foldable launch until 2023.
Significantly, however, that roadmap came from the same source as the foldable rumors we described here. So who knows: this phone could launch later this year. We have to wait and see!