Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 vs OnePlus Open: Which foldable could win?

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By Alan Martin
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Will Samsung’s next Galaxy Z Fold beat OnePlus’ debut effort?

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and OnePlus Open
(Image credit: Future)

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 vs OnePlus Open match-up should be coming sooner rather than later. And we can't wait to see the outcome of a battle between our current favorite folding phone and what sounds like Samsung's biggest update to its foldable model yet.

First-generation foldables have, historically, been a rather iffy proposition. But the OnePlus Open was a brilliant first attempt, surprising us by how well-designed it was. Some low-light camera quibbles aside, there was very little to complain about.

But Samsung has been in the game far longer, and its upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 6 will undoubtedly be very good, if not excellent courtesy of its rumored upgrades. So which foldable will win out? Here’s how they stack up, based on what we know so far.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 vs OnePlus Open: Specs

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Row 0 - Cell 0 OnePlus OpenSamsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 (rumored)
Cover display6.31-inch OLED (2484 x 1116)6.3-inch OLED
Main display7.82-inch OLED (2440 x 2268)7.6-inch OLED
ChipsetSnapdragon 8 Gen 2Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
RAM16GB12GB
Storage512GB 256GB/512GB/1TB
Battery4,805 mAh4,400mAh
Rear cameras48MP (f/1.7) main, 48MP ultrawide (f/2.2), 64MP 3x telephoto (f/2.6))50MP (f/1.8) main, 12MP (f/2.2) ultra-wide, 10MP 3x telephoto (f/2.4)
Front camera20MP (f/2.2)10MP (f/2.2)
Inner camera32MP (f/2.4)4MP (under-display, f/1.8)
Price$1,699 ($1,499 with any phone trade-in)$1,799 and up

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 vs OnePlus Open: Release date and price

The OnePlus Open has been out since October 2023, priced at $1,699 (though you can knock $200 off this by trading in any phone in any condition, effectively making it $1,499). 

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is likely coming this summer, a little earlier than past foldables. Due to Samsung’s sponsorship of the Olympic Games, word is that the Z Fold 6 will launch in the second week of July, so it's got some new hardware to show off on all its billboards etc.

While the price of Galaxy Fold devices has come down significantly since the $1,980 first generation, we wouldn’t expect it to drop lower than a starting price of $1,699 this time around. Even if Samsung keeps the current $1,800 price point for its larger foldable in place, we'd make peace with it as long as the other rumored upgrades are in place.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 vs OnePlus Open: Design and screens

Galaxy Z Fold 6 render

(Image credit: SmartPrix)

The OnePlus Open mimics past Galaxy Fold designs: a regular (albeit thick) smartphone that unfolds to reveal a small tablet-sized display on the inside.

The differences come in terms of screen size, resolution and aspect ratios. The OnePlus Open’s external OLED display is a 6.31-inch number with a resolution of 2,484 x 1,116 and a refresh rate of up to 240Hz. Its internal tablet display is a 7.82-inch OLED panel with a resolution of 2,440 x 2,268 and variable refresh rates of between 1 and 120Hz.

We don’t know the specifics of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 yet, but the word is that it’s going to carry different dimensions to its predecessor. The reliable tipster Ice Universe says that its external screen will grow to 6.3 inches (from 6.2 inches) with a 22:9 aspect ratio, while the inside screen will still measure 7.6 inches across the diagonal.

Samsung has apparently made the upcoming foldable thinner and lighter than ever, with a thickness of 12.1mm folded or 5.6mm unfolded. It’s tipped to be down from 8.92 ounces/253g to 8.43 ounces/239g, just 0.21 ounces/6g more than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, and notably the same weight as the OnePlus Open. 

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 vs OnePlus Open: Performance

One area where Samsung will almost certainly have the upper hand is performance — a near inevitability with newer phones at this price point.

While the OnePlus Open uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 will likely embrace the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and all of its AI smarts. Indeed, it would be very surprising if the Galaxy Z Fold 6 didn’t adopt the same Galaxy AI tricks showcased with the Galaxy S24 series.

There’s also the speed boost, too. Here are the comparative benchmarks between the OnePlus Open and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, which already uses the 8 Gen 3 chip, to give you a rough idea of what to expect:

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Row 0 - Cell 0 OnePlus Open (Snapdragon 8 Gen 2)Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (Snapdragon 8 Gen 3)
Geekbench 6 (single/multi-core)1,987 / 4,2032,300 / 7,249
Wild Life Unlimited (score/fps)14,157 / 84.8fps20,627 / 123.5fps
Adobe Premiere Rush Transcode Time (Mins:Secs)1:080:42

Yes, the OnePlus Open will likely have 4GB more RAM, but in our experience that doesn’t make any tangible difference to day-to-day performance for most people. At the moment, 16GB RAM is overkill for smartphones unless you're using multiple incredibly demanding apps at once.

It’s also worth noting that past Galaxy Z Fold devices have supported the S Pen. While there still won’t be anywhere to dock it on Samsung’s next foldable by the sounds of it, the compatibility alone will give the Galaxy Z Fold 6 a strong selling point for doodlers and note-takers.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 vs OnePlus Open: Cameras

The OnePlus Open has a triple camera array with a 48MP (f/1.7) main lens, a 48MP (f/2.2) ultrawide snapper and a 64MP (f/2.6) 3x telephoto lens. 

According to two leakers (Revegnus and Ice Universe), the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 will continue with the same camera hardware as its predecessor. That means a 50MP (f/1.8) main camera, a 12MP (f/2.2) ultra-wide sensor and a 10MP (f/2.4) telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. 

Handily, we’ve done a direct camera face-off between the Z Fold 5 and OnePlus Open already, and you can see some comparison shots below.

Yes, Samsung may improve on its image processing, but given our Assistant Phones Editor, Richard Priday, already gave the Z Fold 5 the nod in this particular face-off, you can probably assume that the Z Fold 6 will once again be the photographer’s choice.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 vs OnePlus Open: Outlook

It looks like we’ll have two very evenly matched phones on our hands with the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and OnePlus Open. In terms of design and price, it looks like it’ll be a win for OnePlus, but performance and photographic quality appear to be heading Samsung’s way.

Obviously, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 analysis is based on rumors, and rumors can be wrong. But fortunately we should have confirmed specs for the Z Fold 6, followed by a definitive review, in just a few months’ time to settle the question once and for all.

Alan Martin
Alan Martin

Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.

2 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Cooe
    While despite having a wider front display than the Fold 5, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 will still have a NOTABLY less god-awful freaking SQUARE shaped internal tablet display (and thus absolute TRASH for watching widescreen media in landscape & scrolling through vertical app feeds in portrait, aka literally the MOST POPULAR MINI-TABLET USE-CASES!) than the inherently compromised OnePlus Open!!! For ex, despite having a notably larger 8" display in terms of total area, the viewable 16:9 media area on the Open is actually SMALLER than on the Fold 4/5's 7.6" but much more rectangular display! 😳🤯

    That makes the Galaxy the better foldable in my mind/for me basically by default (and I've been using a tablet-style foldable as my daily for yeeeears now).

    I expect the Fold 6 to have a moderately wider/more normal ≈22:9 front display (ala the same aspect ratio as the Z Flip's, aka "normal enough") paired with a still rectangular but slightly more square ≈7:6 interior display vs the ≈23.1:9 & ≈6:5 for the Fold 4/5, both as compared to the OnePlus Open's "fully normal width/size" 21:9 front display which comes at the cost of its nearly perfectly square ≈9:8 interior display! 🤢🤮

    While I personally still expect myself to overall prefer the Fold 4/5's set of screen sizes/shapes better than the Fold 6's as I use the tablet display about ≈80% of the time and watch a LOT of widescreen media on it, I think Samsung is going to basically NAIL the "ideal as possible for the largest group of people as possible" screen shape balance with Fold 6! The front display will FINALLY be "wide/normal looking" enough for people to stop whining about it, but critically without making the internal tablet screen near fully square to make that happen like both OnePlus & Oppo have.

    All the people who have been flipping out about how Samsung refuses to make drastic screen shape differences from generation to generation are completely unable to see the forest for the trees and missing the point ENTIRELY! They've deliberately been slowly dialing in the best possible balance of inner screen to outer screen for the widest group of people without accidentally overshooting it the way other companies have.

    OnePlus' choice of screen shapes on the Open otoh means it's only the superior device if you primarily want to use your foldable as a traditional slab phone with only the occasional bit of tablet screen usage, not the other way around! Sorry, not sorry. 🤷 The black letterboxing bars when watching widescreen media should NEVER be bigger than the dang media itself!!!
    Reply
  • Kitsune Tsunami
    Samsung playing catch up this year I had the choice between the latest Samsung foldable and a OnePlus You can't buy this phone from a carrier! But my god there's no crease Samsungs lagging behind in two main things screen crease and cooling I won't mention the lack of high end camera sensors either since not many people worry in a foldable in day to day life. This Oneplus open caught a picture of the solar eclipse and it was clear there's definitely a different between the two and I watch content on it just fine it's a big screen in fact I compared it to the zfold 5 and the OnePlus was bigger both unfolded and folded there was more room on the screen on then OnePlus for a bigger uncropped video overall I believe Samsung needs to wake up and smell the roses the average person is tired of the same old design same old thing we want newer we want better!
    Reply