Oppo has always been a strong player in the Chinese market, but it's still a much smaller player in international markets. With the launch of the Oppo Find N2 Flip, the Chinese manufacturer hopes to increase this status. Demonstrating Oppo's technical prowess, the Find N2 Flip is the first true competitor to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip series and will introduce the Oppo brand to consumers in Europe and beyond.
I spent some time with the Oppo foldable phone to make sure it lived up to the bill.
Speaking to Oppo VP Billy Zhang, one of the Find N2 Flip's design goals is to ensure that the smartphone functions as usual when the phone is open. Basically, there's no point in having a flip phone that doesn't work like a regular phone. Above all the bells and whistles and tech advances, does the N2 Flip work like a standard smartphone?
You will be relieved to know that the answer is yes; Oppo has released a phone with great features. It's not a flagship killer when it comes to specs and there are two areas to note, but overall the Find N2 Flip is a capable smartphone.
Now let's take a little tour of Find N2 without even thinking about Flip. First of all, it's a camera. The main camera has two lenses: a 50-megapixel main camera and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera (and a 32-megapixel selfie camera sits in the center just behind the screen).
The shots it captures aren't amazing - it's not a flagship lens and sensor - but auto-calibration for full-automatic image processing and various options in between deliver sharp, good-quality images. medium light. There's a noticeable drop in low-light performance compared to flagships. The shape fits, but the color isn't that strong.
In terms of specs, Oppo has sidestepped Qualcomm's SnapDragon-based system-on-a-chip series and switched to MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ instead. It is very similar to the SnapDragon 8 Gen 1, so there will be slight differences in everyday use. Developers, especially of graphics-intensive games and applications, are more familiar with all the intricacies of the SnapDragon system, so there is little optimization in games.
Of course, if you're after intense gaming, there are more specialized phones out there. For your 2D puzzles and platform games, the MediaTek option works just as well as the Qualcomm option.
Oppo's Android variant is ColorOS. It has done well in the Chinese market and follows many popular UI trends. This means there's more brightness and color to the UI, and it's missing some of the most popular shortcuts in the Western world (such as double-pressing the power button to open the camera).
The question of how much localization the UI requires is an odd debate, but one area of localization still needs work and that is translation. There are places where the choice of phrases and phrasing seems a bit...mechanical, as if the translation is done by an algorithm rather than manually. It doesn't break functionality, but it does grab attention.
way support; Oppo will offer four years of Android updates and another year of security updates, just like the flagship Galaxy and Pixel smartphones.
If you want to learn more about ColorOS, you can read my review here on Forbes.
Let's get back to these two important areas. The first is the aspect ratio of the screen. With an aspect ratio of 21:9, this phone appears slightly taller and narrower than comparable rigid smartphones. It's a bit insignificant, and Android's penchant for information-flow apps actually reduces scrolling. I found this a bit limiting in terms of the amount of information on screen - line wrapping should be a bit more aggressive or font size should be reduced, but it's something that needs a bit of tweaking.
Oppo scores bonus points for having the same bezel sizes across the screen and offering a fast 120Hz refresh.
The second area is of course the loops. Instead of the U-shaped curves of competing foldable phones, Oppo opted for a teardrop-shaped curve. This in turn results in tighter fold areas and less distortion in certain parts of the screen. Both help reduce the visibility of the curve.
Android's dark mode is a silent savior. Switch to black as often as possible and the loops will become almost invisible to the eye. Switch to white and it becomes more visible, especially when scrolling. As long as you're out of sight, you're far enough away not to be noticed.
You'll feel it under your finger or thumb as you scroll. With modern articulation techniques, this is the norm.
The hinge stays open after about 45 degrees out of plane, giving you a good angle for video calls. Oppo's camera software also lets you slide photo previews to the top or bottom of the screen, and the "camcorder" mode for videos is a welcome return.
Oppo, like many other foldable smartphone manufacturers, has opted for an external display that allows users to see their notifications and quickly check them without having to open the phone. 3.5
From the main home screen, you can see notifications (just swipe up) and quickly toggle items (just swipe down). In practice I have found little use for the latter. The first option is more useful because it allows you to quickly view your desk phone's screen when it's not in use. In this sense, mission accomplished.
With the main camera lens next to the protective screen, you'll be happy to know that you can use the closed N2 Flip as a selfie camera, and the protective screen shows photo previews (and when you open the phone for normal use, you can also activate the privacy screen, so others can also see your poses for the main camera). The ubiquity of weather apps continues here, and if I didn't have a smartwatch with me, a screen timer would come in handy.
However, the protective screen is not comparable to the Find N2 Flip. It feels messy and there's no meaningful interaction with the phone's content. It's like a chicken-and-egg situation: without a user base, why would a developer support Oppo skins, and without existing apps, why would provide Oppo skin screens? The latter is the case, so Oppo is hoping developers will add support.
Whether the developer will only support the Find N2 Flip, Samsung's Z-Flip lineup, or other foldable devices in the coming years remains to be seen. There is a risk that the protective screen will only become a viewer and information center for notifications. That's not bad; The Find N2 Flip achieved its design goals with no outside work, but what will happen on the cover in a year's time remains an open question.
What happens to the hinge mechanism and main screen after twelve months of folding is another question. Despite all the rumors of testing, certifications and experience, Oppo's foldable technology remains unproven on the scale required for a global launch.
The intricate folding mechanism is a standout feature for those looking for technical prowess, but the real magic is that it just fades into the background. Find N2 Flip is a mid-range smartphone in every respect. It falls a little short of big specs for a flagship, but it's high enough to make it a great everyday phone.
Folding it up to fit comfortably in your pocket is a perk that will help Oppo stand out in the global market. This will lead to the inevitable comparisons to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4... meaning Oppo will be treated as equal in the comparisons consumers will read.
For his first global fold, this is a win.
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