In the past few decades, the stator permanent magnet (PM) machines have attracted much research attention because of their reliable rotor structure, high power density, wide speed range, and strong fault-tolerant ability. Among the recently proposed stator PM machine topologies, the stator slot-opening PM (SS-PM) machines are becoming increasingly popular because of their higher stator space utilization and robust rotor structure. According to the SS-PM magnetization direction, the SS-PM machines can be classified into three categories, namely, the tangentially magnetized stator slot-opening PM (TMSS-PM) machines, the radially magnetized stator slot-opening PM (RMSS-PM) machines, and the compound magnetized stator slot-opening PM (CMSS-PM) machines. The associated working principle and electromagnetic performance of different SS-PM machines can be diverse. Therefore, this paper gives an overview of SS-PM machines in terms of machine design, working principle, and machine performance. A qualitative performance evaluation and comparative study of SS-PM machines are presented, and the future challenges and potential opportunities in the SS-PM machine design are discussed.