OnePlus could be the next Android brand with foldable smartphones

OnePlus could be the next major Android brand with a foldable smartphone. A circulating leak from the Chinese patent offices suggests that the company may have already started laying the groundwork to offer an alternative to US users.

The list of trademarks discovered by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) shows that a company – Shenzhen Oneplus Technology – has filed two patent applications for “OnePlus V Flip” and “OnePlus V Fold”, respectively. Yes, you would be right in thinking that they look exactly the same as the corresponding Samsung versions of each device. They will likely fold the same as well.

You have accessed the patent through a link provided by 9to5Google, which has a screenshot of the listing on their site. Twitter user Mukul Sharma At first I spotted the names of the smartphones. Elon’s pre-verified account indicates that internal testing of at least one of the aforementioned foldable devices has begun at OnePlus headquarters.

Rumors of OnePlus folds are nothing new. It’s been heavily traded since last summer, especially after OnePlus co-founder Pete Lau, chirp Look at the hinge mechanism. It wasn’t clear at the time if it was for a OnePlus device or a smartphone from its parent company, Oppo.

Oppo has a foldable smartphone going viral. Find N2 launched in December, and it’s getting good reviews in other markets. It’s just a bit shorter than Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4, which it then takes A slightly different aspect ratio. Cnet It’s rather square compared to the Z Fold 4’s relative elongation, he says. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Oppo attempt a similar form factor under the OnePlus moniker given that it’s already a well-established brand in North America.

OnePlus also has the added advantage of being known as an affordable flagship brand. It managed to keep the OnePlus 10 Pro and 10T under the $900 mark, eventually dropping the 10 Pro below $600 for similar specs stuffed into the Samsung Galaxy s22 devices.

Foldable phones will likely remain expensive until they become more common. Samsung’s current batch of foldable devices are very expensiveeven with the cheapest $1 foldable,000. It would be an excellent addition to the current foldable smartphone portfolio to have something with a more accessible price point compared to Samsung’s Flip and Fold. However, don’t expect too much from a discount. The search for N2 begins at $1,512GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which is about $300 less than the Z FolD 4.

There is no word on whether any of this is official yet. OnePlus foldable smartphones are still just a rumor. But it’s certainly nice to think of a time when foldable smartphones don’t cost as much as a mid-range laptop. Some old options like Reboot Motorola Razr It hits really steep Sales, but even that still debuts at $1,500.