Samsung’s three Generations of foldable phones put it in a leadership position in this field, so much so that Huawei and Xiaomi the same dual-screen form factor eventually followed. Have already shown a foldable prototype a few years ago, it was only a matter of time before Oppo, the global one fourth largest smartphone brand to enter the scene. After a Teaser from yesterday, today the Chinese company revealed the Find N, which has a 5.49-inch external display and unfolds into a 7.1-inch flexible “Serene Display”.
What’s special about this design is that Oppo chose a landscape aspect ratio for the flexible AMOLED screen – 9: 8.4 (1,920 x 1,792) to be precise – that offers more practical split-screen usage. A bit like Microsoft Surface Duo 2except that this is done through a single panel. Similarly, the Find N’s external AMOLED screen comes in a more familiar 9:18 (988 x 1,972) aspect ratio, as opposed to the slim 9: 24.5 on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3. The shorter case should be the device also make it more portable than its competitors.
Oppo
Oppo added that thanks to its special waterdrop flexion hinge design, it is able to expand the folding angle of the flexible panel, reducing the kinks – “up to 80 percent less noticeable compared to other devices,” which Rhineland is apparently certified by TÜV. The same mechanism allows for a seamless design when folded. With its 12-layer structure, the flexible screen itself can withstand over 200,000 folds – even at temperatures of up to -20 degrees Celsius or -4 degrees Fahrenheit. Unfortunately, the Find N doesn’t have an IP rating, but Oppo assures us that the device passed the company’s proprietary moisture and splash tests.
To our surprise, the Find N is powered by Qualcomm’s slightly older one Snapdragon 888, in contrast to the coming Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or the existing one Snapdragon 888 Plus. Oppo stated that this was due to the longer development cycle of this project. To be fair, this 5G chipset is still plentiful, the phone also has up to 12 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 512 GB of UFS 3.1 storage, as well as ColorOS 12 based on Android 11, which ensures smooth operation 120 Hz should provide more flexible screen (although the external screen is limited to 60 Hz).
Sanji Feng / Engadget Chinese
The other extras of this 275 g device include a 50 megapixel f / 1.8 main camera (Sony IMX766 sensor; identical to the Find X 3 Pro), a 16-megapixel (IMX481) f / 2.2 ultra-wide camera plus a 13-megapixel (Samsung S5K3M5) f / 2.4 2x telephoto camera on the back and a 32-megapixel (IMX615) f / 2.4 punch hole selfie -Camera on both the external screen and the inner screen. There’s a 4,500 mAh battery that supports 33 W SuperVOOC fast charging and 15 W AirVOOC wireless charging; You can also use the phone for 10W reverse charging.
Unlike many newer flagship Androids, unlocking is done with a side-mounted fingerprint scanner power button rather than an under-display fingerprint reader, which makes sense as it would be a bit ambitious to incorporate that sensor into the large flexible screen.
Sanji Feng / Engadget Chinese
On the software side, this version of ColorOS 12 has a “FlexForm mode” with which you can use the Find N in the form of a mini laptop. This applies to use cases like video calls, notes, 4K time-lapse footage of the sky, and more. Likewise, you can use the external screen as a selfie viewfinder, although this is nothing new in the world of foldable devices.
Sanji Feng / Engadget Chinese
Perhaps my favorite feature here is the split-screen gesture: just swipe down with two fingers in the middle of the flexible screen and you’ll instantly split the screen in two. You can also tap the three dots in the middle of this virtual divider to create a shortcut for the current app combination. If necessary, you can also pinch the big screen with four fingers to turn the current app into a floating window.
Last but not least, there is a “Seamless Relay” function with which you can easily switch from the large screen to the smaller external screen. Once you fold the Find N, the external screen offers a five-second window that you can swipe up and activate it.
Sanji Feng / Engadget Chinese
The Find N is available in black, white and purple, with the purple offering being exclusive to its high-end model. In China, this new phone is now available for Pre-order Before the launch on December 23, the base model (8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage) cost 7,699 yuan (approx. 1,210) and the high-end model (12 GB RAM and 512 GB storage) 8,999 yuan (approx. 1,410). That’s surprisingly cheap – even more so than Xiaomi’s Mix Fold.
Unfortunately, Oppo has no plans to bring its first foldable device outside of China yet, but our test device only landed on my doorstep a few hours ago. I’ll be spending the next few days trying to find out if this device lives up to its hype (and if I can even run Google services on it) so stay tuned for our further impressions.
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