OnePlus is working to launch its first foldable smartphone this year, the company confirmed at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 in Barcelona, Spain. OnePlus made the announcement at its “From Fast & Smooth to Beyond” panel discussion at the MWC.
The OnePlus foldable phone will be announced in the second half of this year.
“Our first foldable phone will have the signature OnePlus fast and smooth experience. It must be a flagship phone that doesn't settle because of its folding form, in terms of industrial design, mechanical technology, and other aspects. We want to launch a device that aims to be at the pinnacle experience of today’s foldable market,” Kinder Liu, President and COO of OnePlus, said in a statement.
The launch of a foldable phone could be an important launch for OnePlus as there are chances of the device becoming globally available and becoming potential competition for Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4.
The company also shared its plan of building a stronger smart ecosystem in the next 3-5 years to bring its signature fast and smooth experience to broader categories. Creating this ecosystem will allow the handset maker to provide a seamless connection between OnePlus devices, such as smartphones, tablets, wearables, TVs, and other Internet-of-things IoT devices.
The company has also unveiled its OnePlus 11 Concept smartphone at the MWC, which is one of the biggest mobile industry trade shows. Organised by industry body GSMA, MWC is held annually in Barcelona, Spain. The OnePlus 11 Concept will not be mass-produced and it is designed to showcase the handset maker's new Active CryoFlux cooling system.
According to the company, it has made an attempt to bring industry-grade cooling of gaming PCs into a smartphone and the result is the Active CryoFlux cooling technology. It is essentially a closed-loop liquid cooling system the sort that is present in desktop PCs. However, OnePlus has created it in a smaller size for a smartphone.