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OnePlus tipped to copy the OPPO Find N for its first foldable in 2023 (Updated)
- A new leak suggests the OnePlus foldable could appear in 2023.
- Leaks suggest the phone could be based on — or a complete copy of — the OPPO Find N.
- The Find N hasn’t launched outside China and is much smaller than competing foldables.
Update, May 11, 2022 (03:45 PM ET): Leaker Max Jambor has teased 2023 as the timeframe for the rumored OnePlus foldable phone. In fact, speaking to PhoneArena, Jambor says the company plans on releasing “multiple” foldable models.
Original article, April 8, 2022 (09:26 AM ET): Last year, OnePlus completed its full integration with sister company OPPO. The brands had always been intertwined, but now all pretense is gone. The companies share everything from R&D and design teams to software developers. The only thing they don’t share is marketing personnel.
With that in mind, it should be unsurprising that early rumors of the first OnePlus foldable phone (via PriceBaba) suggest it could be a copy of OPPO’s sole foldable phone: the OPPO Find N. The Find N launched in China late last year but hasn’t made it to any other countries.
See also: The best foldable phones you can get
Notably, the Find N is much smaller than something like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3. It also has a well-designed hinge that helps it close seamlessly, which is a lot nicer than Samsung’s hinge which leaves a small gap when closed.
It’s possible OPPO isn’t bringing the Find N to any other countries to allow OnePlus to have the glory of launching its own foldable. Obviously, if the phone is based on the Find N, it wouldn’t make any sense for both phones to co-exist in the same markets.
However, aside from budget-oriented models, OnePlus does tend to alter its products lifted from OPPO. It’s possible the two phones would co-exist in some markets if OnePlus is able to change the design enough to keep them unique.
OnePlus foldable: When?
We’ve seen a leaked roadmap for smartphone launches from OnePlus, and a foldable wasn’t on it. Therefore, it’s likely we wouldn’t see a OnePlus foldable launch until 2023.
Notably, however, that roadmap came from the same source as the foldable rumors we’ve described here. So who knows: maybe this phone could launch later this year. We’ll need to wait and see!