Winners and Losers: OnePlus cracks the foldable with the Open, while Apple confuses with its iPads again

OPINION: This week has been a massive one for gamers, with numerous highly-anticipated titles finally hitting shelves.

Not only has Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 finally swung onto PS5 but everyone’s favourite plumber has returned in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and the Early Access version of Football Manager 2024 also got a surprise release.

As usual, we’re here to crown this week’s winners and losers – so who has picked up the gongs this week?

Winner: OnePlus produces the best book-style foldable yet

We’ve known OnePlus has been working on its first foldable for months now, and this week it was finally revealed. Ahead of the launch, our mobile expert Lewis Painter spent a few weeks putting the phone through its paces and he very much enjoyed the experience.

In the verdict of his glowing 4.5/5 star review, he said: “the OnePlus Open gets the book-style foldable formula right, boasting a no-compromise experience with excellent displays, great performance, custom foldable camera tech and fast charging, all at a price cheaper than most of the competition.”

Now, while this is the first foldable under the OnePlus brand, it’s not necessarily starting from scratch. The OnePlus Open has more than a passing resemblance to the Oppo Find N3 which was also announced this week. Considering Oppo – a sister company of OnePlus – has been producing excellent foldables for a while, it’s hardly a surprise the OnePlus Open is a hit, and our clear winner this week.

Loser: What’s going on with the Apple Pencil?

Apple announced a new version of its excellent Apple Pencil stylus this week. Not a Pro model, as many expected, or a replacement for one of its two currently available versions – but a third option.

Upon first glance, this oddly named Apple Pencil (USB-C) looks like a great product. it’s the cheapest Apple Pencil yet, has a built-in USB-C port instead of an annoying Lightning connector and seems a perfect fit for the iPad 10 Apple introduced late last year.

When it was launched, this iPad didn’t support the newer Apple Pencil 2, instead requiring a dodgy adapter to allow it to work with the very first Apple Pencil.

The problem with this Apple Pencil (USB-C) is that it just makes the whole range very confusing, far too confusing for a trio of stylus. For instance, while it works with any USB-C iPad, it can’t charge wirelessly – even though it’ll magnetically attach.

This new Pencil also lacks any form of pressure sensitivity, a feature that’s been present on all previous Apple Pencil models and has been a stalwart of the series. Removing this feature makes this option less suited to drawers, as you won’t be able to press down harder for a thicker line. Just a look at the comparison chart from Apple below for an idea of how confusing the range is.

While a cheaper Apple Pencil makes sense, I don’t envy someone walking into an Apple Store and trying to work out which one is right for them.