Hands-on: The OnePlus Open ‘Apex Edition’ is a foldable victory lap [Gallery]

Ben Schoon | Aug 7 2024 - 6:00 am PT

Last year’s OnePlus Open was far and away the best foldable in the US market when it launched, and one could argue that that’s still true today. As such, OnePlus is taking a victory lap with the new OnePlus Open “Apex Edition,” a slight revamp in a gorgeous new case.

The original OnePlus Open stood out because, unlike the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Pixel Fold of the time, it had a wider cover screen, minimal display crease, and uncompromised cameras. Even compared to some of the more advanced competition overseas, the Open was often among the most widely-loved foldables on the market.

And it still is.

Despite some potentially solid competition from Google’s upcoming Pixel 9 Pro Fold, the OnePlus Open, even with specs from 2023, is still a killer device. It still has better cameras, better displays, and better (and thinner) hardware compared to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 6.

The new “Apex Edition” just looks to remind everyone of that lead.

This new OnePlus Open variant, a limited edition release, firstly gets a makeover with a new “Crimson Shadow” color variant. In marketing, this had a striking red hue, but in person it’s a little more subdued and rich – “wine” is a good description. The red really comes out in bright light, though.

It’s still absolutely gorgeous and is a good reminder that there simply are not enough red phones on the market today, but it’s a little underwhelming in person.

The red (faux leather) back is complimented by silver rails which are a really nice contrast versus the matching colors on the green and black variants last year. The Alert Slider also gets a little orange accent taken from the Hasselblad camera that inspired the overall look.

Outside of the design, though, what’s new?

The “Apex Edition” doesn’t bring a lot to the table. It has twice as much storage at 1TB, making it the OnePlus device with the most storage on board, and also outdoing some competing foldables. It still have 16GB of RAM and the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, though.

It also has the same Android update policy as the existing OnePlus Open, but it’s a year into that. That means you’re effectively buying a device that’s a year down on updates. It’ll still last through at least 2028, though, just like if you bought one of the other variants today.

The only other changes are in the software. This device gets a new “VIP Mode” attached to the Alert Slider which not only mutes notifications, but also disables the cameras and microphone. That actually seems surprisingly useful, as I rarely mute notifications beyond just using vibrate mode anyway.

You’ll also get some AI features in photo editing such as an object eraser and the ability to cut an object out of a photo.

With the next version of the OnePlus Open still at least a few months away, this “Apex Edition” is really just the brand’s chance to remind everyone that it’s already king of the hill, despite the advancements Samsung and Google are making. Again, the jury is still out on whether or not the Pixel 9 Pro Fold will be better, but that’s certainly an uphill battle for Google.

The OnePlus Open “Apex Edition” will be available starting on August 8 for $1,899, a $200 upgrade over the existing base model. For a limited time, though, customers can get $300 off (down to $1,499) with the coupon code “1TBFORLIFE” at checkout on OnePlus.com, plus an extra $100 off with any device trade-in. A free pair of OnePlus Buds Pro 2 are also available to buyers.