We've been hearing about the OnePlus 13 for a few months now. If you're a fan of OnePlus phones, then the wait could be over very soon. This is according to a post on Weibo by Li Jie Louis, the OnePlus China President, who confirmed that the handset will launch this coming October.

Li did not explicitly mention the OnePlus 13 by name, but did make several references to a "OnePlus flagship" which will presumably be the OnePlus 13. He also revealed that the handset will be powered by the "latest generation of flagship chips", which we can only assume refers to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, unless somehow the OnePlus 13 will be the first handset to use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.

We had previously heard reports that the handset could feature a 6,000mAh battery and support 100W fast charging. For context, the OnePlus 12 came with a 5,400mAh battery, so the extra 600mAh could be a welcome upgrade. We had also previously heard that the OnePlus 13 could launch in October or November, so it looks like those rumors were right after all.

One thing to note is that the announcement comes from OnePlus China. It is unclear if this could have an impact on the global launch, so we'll have to wait and see. Either way, October is only next month so it shouldn't be too long until we get all the official details.

The OnePlus Open was announced last year. Unfortunately, we won't be seeing the OnePlus Open 2 this year. Instead, the company has made an interesting choice to debut the OnePlus Open Apex Edition which comes with a new finish along with some upgrades.

The company teased the launch of the handset last week, but we now have the full details. The OnePlus Open Apex Edition is more or less the same as its predecessor. It does sport a brand new texturized faux leather back in a reddish-brown finish. According to OnePlus, this design was inspired by the Hasselblad 503CW camera.

In terms of hardware upgrades, the chipset of the handset remains the same. The main difference is that it now comes with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage as the only option. The company has also made some slight design changes to the alert slider, which appears to be thinner and now has an orange accent. The alert slider also helps to enable an exclusive software feature called "VIP Mode". According to OnePlus:

"VIP Mode locks the security chip to create a completely secure and private environment where all microphones and cameras on the phone are disabled, and advertising tracking is heavily restricted through chip-level permission encryption powered by the secure chip. VIP mode also prevents chat information from being viewed or recorded by apps without permission."

OnePlus has also added some AI features to the OnePlus Open Apex Edition as part of the upgrades. If you're interested in the new OnePlus Open, the handset is available for purchase on the 8th of August where it is priced starting at $1,899.99. If you'd rather not spend so much, the company is also discounting the original OnePlus Open to $1,399.99 plus an extra $100 discount, effectively bringing its price down to just $1,299.99.

OnePlus is on a roll lately - the company has just launched a number of new devices including the impressive Ace 3 Pro and OnePlus Pad Pro, and it's looking to follow up the momentum with the upcoming OnePlus Nord 4. While there have been a number of different Nord smartphones since the launch of the original, OnePlus keeps a separate "mainline" Nord series, of which the 4 is the latest.

It should be noted though that the phone isn't officially out yet - OnePlus will be hosting a dedicated launch event which is scheduled for July 16, to be held in Milan, Italy. The company has sent out invites to media, influencers and select fans, and while it hasn't revealed much about the phone it does tease a bit with the invite card:

Some say it's impossible in the 5G era to make a smartphone with the strength, sophistication and enduring quality of metal. We say...Never Settle.

This has led to speculation of whether or not OnePlus might launch a full-metal design for the Nord 4, something that we haven't seen much of ever since most manufacturers decided to shift to glass for their smartphone designs.

Some rumors claim that the OnePlus Nord 4 will be a rebranded version of the OnePlus Ace 3V, a China-exclusive handset. The Ace 3V features a 6.74-inch curved AMOLED display, a Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 chipset, a 50MP main camera with an 8MP ultra-wide camera, and a 5500mAh battery with 100W SuperVOOC fast charging.

OnePlus launched their first ever Android tablet back in 2023 in the form of the OnePlus Pad. It came with a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 chipset, which is fine, but for a 2023 tablet, using 2021 hardware was an odd choice. If you're hoping for something a bit more current, the OnePlus Pad 2 could come with a newer and more modern chipset.

This is according to a Geekbench listing spotted by 91mobiles in which it is revealed that the OnePlus Pad 2 could be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. This is basically the chipset that is powering the majority of flagship phones in 2024. It should represent quite a massive jump in performance over its predecessor.

However, we have to wonder if this could also result in an increase in price. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is a considerably newer chipset than the Dimensity 9000 when OnePlus decided to use it in the original OnePlus Pad. We can imagine that OnePlus probably snagged it at a lower price given that it was "older".

In any case, the latest rumors are suggesting that the OnePlus Pad 2 will be announced in the second half of 2024. We're already in June so the earliest we can probably expect it is in July. Until then, take the benchmarks with a grain of salt.

A lot of modern day foldable smartphones tend to feel quite similar to one another. But when we reviewed the OnePlus Open, we were actually pleasantly surprised at what a great experience it was. We weren't alone in our sentiment, which is why if you're excited for the OnePlus Open 2, we might have some bad news for you.

According to a post on X by Kartikey Singh, it seems that the OnePlus Open 2 might not launch this year. The original OnePlus Open launched in the later part of 2023. Most companies refresh their phones on an annual basis. it's not a stretch to think that the company could launch the OnePlus Open 2 this year.

However, the post claims that it might skip 2024 and launch in 2025 instead. A follow up reply by Chun Bhai "confirms" the delay. The post adds that the the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 could power the handset. It is a bit disappointing that we won't see the OnePlus Open 2 this year, but at the same time, we don't really mind it.

OnePlus certainly took their time before hopping on board the foldable bandwagon. If they have to "delay" the launch of its second model to further improve it or add more features, we're all for it. It is also quite a risky move. Samsung will be launching their new foldables this year, so OnePlus will have to compete with those devices as well.