A stellar debut

CHENNAI: The OnePlus Open marks a new chapter for OnePlus. It’s not just the brand’s first foldable smartphone. The Open is the most expensive smartphone from the OnePlus stable that lands in a similar price zone as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5. OnePlus brings quite a few refinements to the ‘book-type’ foldable with a convenient form factor that is a meeting ground of sorts between the Google Pixel Fold and Samsung Galaxy Fold 5 (that debuted in India in August).

One of the talking points of the OnePlus Open is the design of both displays. While earlier, foldables pushed you to use the larger, primary display, the Open offers a fully functional cover display that is 6.31-inches. Both displays are equally immersive and max out at an impressive 2800 nits. The 120Hz refresh rate adds to the fluidity. You might not need the larger display unless you’re gaming or binge watching. This also has a bearing on battery life. OnePlus has packed the Open with a robust 4805 mAh battery and also includes a 67W fast charger (1 to 100% in less than 45 minutes) in the box. We’re surprised the Open doesn’t feature wireless charging, something we’ve come to expect in a premium flagship.

It’s not just the form and gorgeous displays, OnePlus has kitted the Open with a formidable array of cameras co-designed with Swedish camera major Hasselblad. The Open aces portrait photography and also offers zoom photography thanks to a 64MP telephoto lens. It’s an all-round camera that didn’t let us down during our testing in different lighting scenarios. Speed is OnePlus’ calling card. The Open is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor and comes with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of Internal storage. It’s serious firepower and makes multi-tasking and gaming a breeze.

OnePlus hits all the right notes with its first foldable. Both the displays are equally immersive – a first of sorts for a foldable, it has a solid camera and a dependable battery. But most of all, it’s the form factor. OnePlus keeps the heft to 240 gm with excellent weight distribution. It feels like a conventional smartphone in your hand. That’s one reason why it deserves to be on your radar if you’re looking to make a switch to a foldable smartphone. (Rs 1,39,999)

BINGE APPEAL

The BenQ V5000i is the newest addition to BenQ’s premium home entertainment segment. We’ve seen a significant increase in demand for home projectors in a post-pandemic world. Before 2020, projectors largely belonged in a corporate board room but the demand for large-screen home entertainment is seeing a perceptible shift. The home projector segment broadly splits into three categories – there are the conventional ‘long throw’ projectors (typically used in boardrooms), portable projectors that offer large screen entertainment on the go and premium short throw projectors where you can create a 100-inch projection with a few inches distance.

The V5000i is an ultra-short-throw projector. These laser projectors are redefining home entertainment as an alternative for big-screen TVs. This projector offers a 4K Ultra HD resolution with 2500 ANSI Lumens of RGB Laser brightness. It unleashes the power of CinematicColor technology, that covers an impressive 95% of the BT 2020 colour spectrum and an impressive 98% of DCI-P3. This translates to lifelike, vivid colours, whether you’re watching live sports or your favourite movies. We like the convenience of Android TV; you don’t need an external casting device (like an Apple TV or Amazon Fire Stick) to grab all the apps you need. The BenQ V5000i also scores on the sound front with an integrated 40W speaker system with dual 5W tweeters and dual 15W woofers. (Rs 5,49,000)