For a while, Samsung was the king of the foldable Android phone with its Z Fold and Z Flip range. But now, in 2024, it’s not that simple. There is plenty of competition for that foldable crown, and here we’re going to be comparing two of our favourites – the OnePlus Open and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6.
Even though the Open is the first foldable from Oppo stablemate OnePlus, it seriously impressed our reviewer. Since the OnePlus Open hit shelves, Samsung has launched the Galaxy Z Fold 6 hoping to once again prove its got the model to beat.
We’ve now fully reviewed both of these foldables Android phones and below we’ll delve into how they compare and which one comes out as the best foldable phone.
Design
While the basic concept of having a mini tablet screen that folds shut to fit in your pocket is fairly uniform, the actual way different brands achieve that is different. This means, there are a surprising number of design differences between the OnePlus Open and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6.
Samsung’s narrower design is immediately noticeable. It measures almost a full 5mm less when shut, or 10mm when opened compared to the Open.
It’s also thicker (if you don’t include the camera bumps.) Still, the Z Fold 6’s design makes it more compact, easier to hold in one hand and easier to carry around in a pocket.
And those camera designs are certainly different. Samsung’s design on the Z Flip 6 is the picture of minimalism, where it seemed OnePlus’ approach was to fit in the best cameras it could and then figure the design out later. The result: a mammoth mound in the middle of the back.
There’s a very minor benefit of that though – being central means when laid on its back, the Open doesn’t wobble.
Other things worth considering on the design front include the Z Flip 6’s waterproofing. IP68 means submersion in shallow water won’t pose a problem whereas the OnePlus Open only has IPX4 splash resistance.
As for the hinge mechanism, both phones are solid and smooth. Neither has that loose springy feeling you get on some models, which means they’ll hold any angle you want to place them in, as long as it’s not too extreme.
Cover Display
Samsung has updated the Cover Display (that’s the screen on the outside) on the Z Fold 6 and made it wider and more useful than before, but it’s still not up to the levels of the OnePlus Open.
Both are around 6.3 inches and sharp enough to view without any issues – but the OnePlus Open’s outer display is wider and it’s far more convenient to use as a standard smartphone display than the Samsung alternative.
Typing and replying to messages is less cramped on the OnePlus Open, while video (particularly 16:9 or 18:9 ratio video) is more suited to that display, purely because it expands over a larger surface area.
For that reason alone, we preferred using the OnePlus to Samsung’s when closed.
The one area in which Samsung does have the upper hand is overall brightness. The Z Fold 6’s outer screen is better in bright daylight outdoor situations, especially when trying to frame shots inside the camera app. It just seemed that bit easier to see, and a little less troubled by reflections.
Internal Display
The OnePlus Open doesn’t just have a better outer screen though, the internal one is also strong. It’s bigger and sharper than the panel on the Z Fold 6. It’s a slightly different aspect ratio too, and similar to the cover screen, that means in a lot of instances it feels more expansive.
When watching a video in full screen with the hinge vertical, there’s more space for video. YouTube also takes up more space when rotated 90 degrees.
Part-fold it, and the difference in video size isn’t all that noticeable, they’re pretty similar. But the OnePlus Open’s display really comes into its own when you make the most of the software’s multi-tasking abilities.
Stick two apps side by side, and they’re less narrow and cramped feeling. Expanding further to make text and images clearer and easier to digest.
But because of how you can expand them, then slide them off to one side, or even arrange them so that you have a third added to the mix – including one full screen video app beneath or above the other two – it’s almost as if the display canvas expands beyond the edges of the actual display.
Of course, that’s an illusion really, but it gives this feeling of having more space to play with. All thanks to some cleverly designed software.
As far as colours and display quality – the Samsung Z Fold 6 is the more colour rich and vibrant. The OnePlus Open, by default, tends towards a more muted look. However, you can switch it to more vibrant tones if you want to and adjust the colour temperature.
Software/AI
There’s an entire selection of AI features built into the Galaxy Z Fold 6 called Galaxy AI. You can do things like summarise text, translate it and check the spelling and tone. There are also generative AI features in the Gallery app for creating selfie portraits or sketching things on photographs, turning them into digital objects.
Being a Samsung phone, the Z Fold 6 includes Dex for turning your phone into a mini PC, plus the folding flex mode interface which can push any app to the top portion of the display while part-folded, and turning the bottom half into a touchpad for controlling it. Lastly – you also get S Pen support for drawing on the display with a stylus.
Samsung will also deliver software updates for longer on this phone. OnePlus will do four years, and Samsung will do seven full years
Cameras
Cameras are a big part of any modern smartphone experience, so when you see the two phones have a similar makeup, you might think the experience of using them and the performance of those cameras would be similar. To a certain extent, it is, but there are some differences worth taking into account.
For instance, both might have a main, ultrawide and telephoto 3x zoom camera on the back, but the difference in sensors and focal lengths and aperture all make a difference, as does the fact that Samsung and OnePlus process light, colour and detail quite differently.
On the whole, it’s the OnePlus Open – in daylight conditions – that takes the better photos. The processing of colour tends to have a bit more of a golden, warm tone to it compared to the cooler Samsung.
The Z Fold 6 often struggles to contain some of the highlights and reflections like bright sunlight on leaves whereas the OnePlus Open tames those more effectively, to ensure the bright parts of the photo aren’t just overexposed patches of white light.
And when you use the zoom, the higher megapixel count on the camera’s sensor usually means you get a little more detail in those photos. Both do fall away quite badly past the 10x zoom mark, but again, the OnePlus seems stronger in its processing.
If there’s one weakness in the OnePlus camera system, it’s the ultrawide camera. Compared to the other lenses on the back the results often look quite rough.
Overall I also found that Samsung was a lot heavier in terms of artificially sharpening details, which becomes more obvious when you use the respective night modes. It gives some night time shots a bit more of an artificial look, as does the fact it draws in a lot of light, cleans up the warm white light to make it cooler and adds a greenish tint.
There’s no denying the night mode photos from Z Fold 6 are brighter, and when you use that mode it does seem to capture for a second or too longer, however, the texture and sharpness, processing of details and warmer light give the OnePlus results a more realistic appearance, and I much prefer those.
Looking at video capture you see similar differences between the footage. Video from the OnePlus Open is a bit warmer, but also seems a little softer in terms of detail and crispness. However, Samsung appears to be better at stabilising movement and keeping the video looking smooth when walking or moving when shooting 4K resolution at 60fps.
Performance
If there’s one area where the Samsung Z Fold 6 does outgun the OnePlus Open, it’s in power and performance. And there’s one very simple reason for that: the OnePlus phone comes with Qualcomm’s 2023 flagship processor, and the Fold 6 comes with 2024’s.
In casual use it’s not something that’s especially all that noticeable. However, when you start pushing the phone to its extremes like running graphically intense games and stress-testing benchmarks the Fold 6 can hit higher performance levels.
Still, with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 inside the OnePlus Open, you’re still getting a very powerful, very capable phone.
Battery Life
As for battery life the OnePlus edges it. The Open has got a beefier capacity, and it was the one that would get our reviewer to the end of the day more comfortably.
We often found in testing we’d need a battery pack just in case it got below that 20% mark on busy, heavy use days.
With 3-4 hours of screen time on quieter days, it’d be somewhere near the 30% mark at bed time. The OnePlus Open was almost always consistently more conservative with battery use, usually between 35-40 per cent with very similar usage.
And when the battery is empty, it can refill much faster too. It can do a full charge from empty in about 46 minutes. Samsung took about double that in our tests, meaning around an hour and a half waiting for it to completely fill up again.
Verdict
Both of these phones are good, but for us, there’s one winner: the OnePlus Open. Despite being the older phone, we found it much better to use day in and day out. We preferred the camera results, particularly the zoom cameras. The lack of a crease on the internal display is a huge plus, as is the more useful cover screen on the outside. Plus, its battery lasts longer and charges much faster.
However, Samsung is going to support the Z Fold 6 longer with updates, and it has a more powerful processor inside and feature-rich software that’s hard to turn down.
