OnePlus confirmed the existence of its upcoming foldable by giving us a glimpse of the same at its OnePlus 11 smartphone launch. Back then, the launch of its foldable was scheduled for the third quarter of 2023. While the background on stage did give us a glimpse of its upcoming foldable, reports hinted at the presence of two foldables that could be called the OnePlus V Flip and the OnePlus V Fold, the V Fold being the bigger horizontal folding model. More recently, the focus has moved to the OnePlus V Fold (or OnePlus Fold), with a recent report pointing out some key specifications. Now, a source has leaked the timeline for the launch and also details about its global availability.
Tipster Yogesh Brar (@heyitsyogesh) revealed to Pricebaba details regarding the OnePlus foldable launch. The tipster claims that the launch would take place towards the end of August, which would be well after Samsung will have announced its upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 5 foldable that is expected to take place in late July in Seoul, Korea. OnePlus is said to be holding its global launch event for its foldable in New York. The source sticks to the launch of just one model, which is currently tagged as the OnePlus Fold as its marketing name has yet to be confirmed.
Also leaked are details regarding its market availability. The tipster has suggested that the OnePlus Fold will have a global rollout and that it will be available in markets that OnePlus currently sells its smartphones in. This rollout will also include markets like the US and India. This would make the OnePlus Fold compete with recently launched foldables like Google’s Pixel Fold and Samsung’s soon to be announced update to its Galaxy Z Fold 4, the Galaxy Z Fold 5.
The same source previously leaked details regarding the smartphone’s specifications. The horizontal folding smartphone is expected to be very similar to the Oppo Find N3 (successor to the Oppo Find N2), which is expected to be launched soon after, in China. Both handsets are said to have an 8-inch QHD+ (2560 x 1440 pixels) OLED inner folding primary display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The outer display is said to measure 6.5-inches diagonally with a full-HD+ resolution. Both phones are expected to be powered by Qualcomm’s latest SoC and offer up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. They are said to feature a triple rear camera setup with a 50-megapixel primary camera with OIS, a 48-megapixel ultra-wide camera, and a 32-megapixel periscopic telephoto camera. Selfies are said to be handled by two 32-megapixel front-facing cameras, one embedded into the outer cover display and the second in the inner folding display.
The launch of OnePlus’ latest foldable comes at a time when the brand is facing strong headwinds in India. Parent company BBK Electronics, has already restructured its three brands into three separate companies – Oppo, OnePlus, and Realme as independent entities. The move to restructure its operations would help de-risk its business from the current and future government action as different central agencies in India had recently accused the Chinese brands of income tax evasion, money laundering, and other violations.
