The OnePlus 17 is taking it too far. For a change, I'm glad Apple and Samsung are off this hype train

If you're a regular PhoneArena reader and, for whatever reason, you've stumbled upon one or two of my editorials, chances are that you've witnessed me ranting how lazy Samsung and Apple have gotten in recent times.

Yes, yes, the iPhone and the Galaxy are what virtually everybody between the Ural Mountains and Los Angeles is after. They're popular, I get it. Apple and Samsung still reign supreme in terms of sheer numbers, but the smartphone world is so much fun once you step outside the duopoly: handsets made by Xiaomi, Honor, Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus, Huawei and the rest of the gang are often astonishing.

I mean, who dares to put a triple 200 MP camera setup on a phone that's not even Ultra, but "simply" Pro Max… who else but a Chinese OEM?!

Not to mention the mind-boggling 10,000 mAh, 12,000 mAh or even 15,000 mAh battery projects that these companies fool around with. Meanwhile, Samsung's "best I can do is 5,000 mAh in my most advanced Ultra phone" is a tune we've been dancing to for seven consecutive years, starting with the Galaxy S20 Ultra. I like evergreens as much as the next guy, but it's time to move on and catch some new melodies.

I don't have a particular "favorite" brand, as I don't care about corporate loyalty—I care about a given device's capabilities and the ways it pushes the artificially imposed boundaries by Apple and Samsung.

Today, I'll be going in the opposite direction and praise the aforementioned giants' infamous slugishness—sometimes, the Chinese players are taking it too far.

Miss me with that phablet flagship experience

The word on the street is that the OnePlus 17 may adopt a wider-than-before display.

Now, if you're a phone aficionado, you've heard too many times about the "wide display" revolution in 2026. If, however, you're new to the phenomenon, let's unfold things a bit before continuing with the OnePlus 17 rumor.

The "unfold" thing above was a "pun intended" moment, since it's precisely foldables that started the whole wide phone craze.

Huawei was first with the Pura X Max:

• The archenemy of Apple and Samsung beats both giants in the wider foldable race

… and then, months later, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Apple's iPhone Duo (the first foldable iPhone) materialized as well.



Basically, all three phones look like a passport when closed and unfold to a wider-than-taller aspect ratio instead of the square proportions of "traditional" book-style foldables like the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra or the Oppo Find N6.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 was a market hit and Samsung enjoyed incredible sale numbers for weeks and months. The iPhone Duo, despite the horrible Crackgate issue, is also very popular and Apple can't keep up with the demand.

Naturally, other brands reacted and we got the Xiaomi 18 Fold recently, another wide foldable. Oppo is also rumored to join the party later, plus Vivo and, pretty soon, everybody will be making those funny looking fellas.



Why are wider-than-taller foldables so appealing? Well, for one, because our eyes are arranged side by side, not one above the other. A wider display—think of your TV or your computer screen—is the real deal, right?

Sure, TikTok and Instagram Reels have made vertical video the new normal, and we're now surrounded by clips designed to be watched with our phones held upright. But let's not pretend horizontal video has gone anywhere.

That's where squarish foldables, such as the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, run into trouble. Their inner displays aren't particularly well suited to traditional widescreen content, leaving plenty of unused black space above and below the video. A wider-than-taller design makes much more sense here, giving you a viewing area that's closer to the proportions of the content you're actually watching.

The OnePlus 17 shouldn't go down this route

Now, it seems that wider foldables are so popular that brands are already making wider non-folding handsets, like Huawei's Pura X View that was recently unveiled. What's more, Huawei's new sub-brand is also rumored to be releasing another wider non-foldable phone.

Notice that it isn't Huawei's top-of-the-line Mate 90 Pro Max that adopts the wider-than-taller aspect ratio, but a brand-new model.

I'm not against OnePlus coming up with such a device, but I think it's too risky to transform your beloved and popular main flagship into a phablet (the love child of a tablet and a phone, you get the picture).

Phablets are interesting and exotic, but I think they're not ideal for one-hand use, even if you have bigger hands like me. We've also grown too accustomed to our tall candy bar phones, so the whole adjustment process won't be an easy one.

So, an OnePlus Wide? Yeah, sure: go for it, the hype train's clickety-clack can be heard all over the world right now. But a OnePlus 17 flagship that's wider? It seems too much.

And I'm genuinely thankful that Apple or Samsung hasn't decided to go down the same path with the iPhone 20 or the Galaxy S26 and enlarge them sideways.

Read on:

• And just like that, the iPhone Air 2 looks like a worse deal than the original iPhone Air
• Even if Crackgate wasn't Apple's fault, it's still Apple's fault
• iPhone Duo, Galaxy Z Fold 8 won't hold a candle to the future Huawei Mate X8 for photography

Galaxy S25 Ultra Early Black Friday sale! Limited time offer!

Save $40 on refurbished Galaxy S25 Ultra from Back Market. Discount automatically applied at checkout. Offer ends 15 November 2026 at 23:59.

Buy at Back Market