Imitation is what the industry does best, after all
Tech companies have a reputation for being rather unimaginative with product names. It’s particularly bad with phones, which usually end up as some gibberish series of letters and numbers, maybe followed by a random adjective or three. This time, though, OnePlus may have just taken the uninspired cake, with a pair of very familiar-sounding names that were just trademarked for the company’s upcoming foldable phones.
The names OnePlus V Fold and OnePlus V Flip have been trademarked by the company, almost perfectly mirroring Samsung’s nomenclature for its foldable phone models, the Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip (as spotted by Mukul Sharma). While the branding might lack imagination, at least we can say “V” is more indicative of how phones fold than the letter “Z.”
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy Z Fold series could soon have a new competitor
While we never want to confuse leaks and rumors for facts, if OnePlus is trademarking these names, we could potentially see two distinct foldable devices from the company in the near future. If Samsung’s naming conventions are anything to go by, one might be a clamshell flip phone, while the other could be a tablet-sized screen that folds down to a phone form factor.
While sharing these trademark filings, tipster Mukul Sharma also mentions that at least one of the foldable devices is already undergoing testing in several regions, including Europe. Perhaps CEO Pete Lau’s opinion of the technology’s maturity has undergone a paradigm shift, or maybe the company just wants to expand its portfolio. Technical details are still scant, but the company did tease images of a complex hinge last year.
Meanwhile, anticipation continues growing for the OnePlus February 7 event, where the company is expected to launch the new OnePlus 11 and 11R, alongside the long-rumored OnePlus Pad and the second-generation Buds Pro. The tablet, in particular, comes as a surprise because we heard little about it in the weeks leading up to confirmation of its launch date. Let’s just hope more details about these foldables emerge in the future.
