[Academic Tech] Oneplus Open Apex Edition (after 2 months)

I moderately recently upgraded my phone from the Samsung Fold 3 to the Oneplus Open (OPO). As per usual with my tech, through a combination of selling the old gadget and picking the new one up ‘as new’ on ebay, I was able to keep overall costs very low. I’ve had the phone a couple of months now so can make some informed comments about it.

After my wife upgraded her old cheap android to an iPhone (13 mini) I was struck by how poor the photos were from my Fold. I was also starting to get sick of the weight and thickness. I had my eyes on the oneplus open for a while, waiting for a deal. Specifically, the Apex edition, with red pleather (or, as we should call it, plastic that looks like leather) and 1TB of storage.

I was expecting it to be good, but not this good…

The crease, even after 2 months, is barely visible compared to the deep crevasse in the middle of my fold 3. The aspect ratio is great – I never had issues with the narrow front to the Fold 3, but I have found myself enjoying the front screen a bit more on the OPO. The inside screen is just astonishingly good. Reading PDFs and websites on it is so natural, and I’ve now made my way though several ebooks on it.

I was also blown away by OxygenOS. I don’t know what they are doing (I read something about parallel graphics processing on Chinese ROMs and their derivatives), but it’s significantly faster than the OneUI interface on the Samsung. Applications open so smoothly. I also found the knock off of Apple’s dynamic island to be surprisingly compelling.

The one downside to the OS so far is that third party launchers don’t play nicely, with artifacts in task view and when returning home/closing apps.

I do need to mention the obnoxious camera bump. I’ll get to the photos, which are good, but I can’t believe they really need a bump that large, given the above mentioned iPhone 13 mini takes just as good photos. Maybe it’s because the unfolded phone is so thin… but it does make it quite top-heavy to hold, and it does make it snag on my pocket sometimes. And, of course, it means the phone doesn’t lay anywhere near flat. Not a problem when folded, it actually sets it up nicely for looking at on the desk, but unfolded it’s an unstable monstrosity.

But yes, the photos are good. Low light can be a bit naff, but overall I’m very happy with photos from all three lenses. I particularly enjoy the X-pan mode and Hassleblad filters. I thought they would be gimmicks, but I’ve found myself enjoying the creativity that comes from using them.

I’ve also been surprised by the charging – a lot of reviewers complained it doesn’t have wireless charging, which I used frequently with my Fold 3. But the marketing that ‘SuperVooc’ 80W charging means you don’t need wireless really is accurate. It charges so fast I don’t even think about it, and would never go back to slow wireless charging. Seriously, I can be at 30%, chuck it on the charger, go for a shower or make a cup of tea, come back, and it’s at 80% (which I cap charging at to prolong battery life). Speaking of which – battery life is awesome, I get through a full day of heavy use (albeit mostly productivity apps rather than 3D games or anything) with 30% remaining, having started at just 80%. My battery settings tells me a full charge will last me 25 and half hours with my usage.

Overall feel of it in the hand, speed of use, and quality of camera all lead me to enjoy this phone more than I’ve enjoyed a gadget in years. Just the other day I was doing something fairly inane and found myself smiling at what a joy it was to use.

Highly recommend if you can get a good deal.

Other than that though, there’s not a lot to say – it’s just a phone after all, and I don’t hammer my phones with particularly taxing tasks very often. If you’ve questions, stick them in the comments.