The OnePlus Open foldable may have just made its first public appearance

Anushka Sharma holding a OnePlus Open folding phone.

(Image credit: OnLeaks)

OnePlus is expected to debut its first foldable phone, the OnePlus Open, any day now, but it looks like the cat might be out of the bag a little early, as what looks like a OnePlus foldable device has just been spotted in the wild.

Over the weekend, prolific leaker OnLeaks posted a video of the rumored device being wielded by well-known Indian actor Anushka Sharma as they were driven through a crowded street. In the video, Sharma holds the phone at an angle and opens it out, revealing it to be a folding handset.

How do we know this is a OnePlus device? Well, it has a giant circular camera area on the back, similar to what we've seen on many of the company’s phones, such as the OnePlus 11 5G. It’s hard to imagine any other company bringing out a phone with a similar-looking camera system.

A debut foldable

Sooooooo obviously on purpose... I mean, who the hell with such an ultra secret prototype in his hands holds it and poses like that in public?! C'mon @OnePlus...🤣🤣🤣 #OnePlus #OnePlusFold @Slashleaks 👉🏻 https://t.co/LwwzsgkamA pic.twitter.com/pjQvPE4S1WSeptember 29, 2023

As well as that, the imminent release date of OnePlus’s foldable phone hints that this could be a not-so-subtle attempt to build hype for the product. After all, there’s nothing like giving expectant fans a teaser to get tongues wagging and mice clicking.

Conspicuously, Sharma hardly seems to be shy about the phone – instead of hiding such a secret device away from prying eyes, he holds it at an angle for passersby to see, then slowly and methodically opens it out to make it obvious that it’s a folding phone. It all feels very staged in order to get people excited for the Open.

According to the various rumors we've heard, the OnePlus Open will come with a vertical hinge, along with a roughly 7.7-inch internal display and a 6.3-inch external display, both with AMOLED tech and 120Hz refresh rates. Two of the upcoming colors are expected to be dubbed Emerald Eclipse and Voyage Black, with the latter a likely candidate for the dark device Sharma held up for the cameras.

Whispered details and specifications aside, we’ll likely get a proper look at the OnePlus Open this month, when the company is widely expected to launch the device – we’ll then know for sure whether Sharma was indeed showing off OnePlus's first foldable, or something else entirely.

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Alex Blake has been fooling around with computers since the early 1990s, and since that time he's learned a thing or two about tech. No more than two things, though. That's all his brain can hold. As well as TechRadar, Alex writes for iMore, Digital Trends and Creative Bloq, among others. He was previously commissioning editor at MacFormat magazine. That means he mostly covers the world of Apple and its latest products, but also Windows, computer peripherals, mobile apps, and much more beyond. When not writing, you can find him hiking the English countryside and gaming on his PC.