The OnePlus Open supports a stylus even better than the Galaxy Z Fold 5

The OnePlus Open is the first foldable under the OnePlus branding, but it is identical to the OPPO Find N3. Regardless, it is an excellent smartphone, and then it folds, making it an excellent foldable that goes head-to-head against the best in the global market. As it turns out, the OnePlus Open supports a stylus, and it supports it in ways better than the Galaxy Z Fold 5.

The OnePlus Open includes a setting for a stylus, present in Settings > Additional Settings > Stylus. However, clicking on it understandably shows nothing, as no stylus is connected.

OnePlus’ media briefing denied stylus support on the Open, and the reviewer’s guide also makes no mention of stylus support. So, the presence of this setting was chalked up to a bug or leftover code from the company’s tablets, which do support an external stylus.

However, as it turns out, the OnePlus Open indeed supports a stylus, as Redditor Rashed341 found out.

The OnePlus Open supports the OPPO Pen, an accessory designed for the OPPO Find N2, the predecessor to the OPPO Find N3/OnePlus Open.

As Mishaal Rahman found out, the OPPO Pen is listed as an accessory compatible with the OPPO Find N3 and Find N2, making it compatible with the OnePlus Open, too.

Even more confusingly, the OPPO Find N3/OnePlus Open supports a stylus on both of its screens, as a Product Director at OPPO mentions in an interview. However, the company chose to omit mentions of it for its launch event, citing on-stage time constraints.

Redditor Rashed341 has shared a video of the same active stylus working on the cover display.

Other features enabled by the stylus are double tapping on the stylus button to take a screenshot and doing the same in the camera app to take a selfie. You can also pull on the upper corner of the display to open the Notes app.

This turn of events is perplexing. Stylus support on any foldable is a big deal, and support for it on both screens is an even bigger deal. S Pen support is one of the distinct advantages that Samsung had with the Galaxy Z Fold 5 vs the OnePlus Open. But since the OnePlus Open also supports a stylus, it leaves Samsung with only two advantages (wireless charging and IP68 rating) but at a much higher price tag on the Fold 5. Samsung’s S Pen features are mature on its foldables, though, while the OnePlus Open’s stylus features are currently unexplored.

The OnePlus Open has better display tech, better battery and charging specs, and a significantly better camera at a lower price, making it an even better value purchase as a foldable now. Note that the compatible OPPO Pen is not officially sold globally, but if you can get your hands on it, you can use it with the OnePlus Open.