Foldable smartphone market just got better

Foldable smartphones aren’t as common as people had hoped for in 2021, but 2022 is just around the corner and we may see more launches next year. But recently, Oppo entered the foldable smartphone market with Oppo Find N, which competes with Samsung’s mighty Z Fold series. In terms of appearance, the Oppo Find N and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 have a notebook-like foldable design with a total of five cameras on board. Unfortunately, Oppo has confirmed that the Oppo Find N will not be coming to India, leaving the Galaxy Z Fold 3 as the most valuable player in the Indian foldable smartphone market. Therefore, in this short review we will analyze what the future of foldable smartphones looks like not only in India, but worldwide. We also discuss whether the Oppo Find N is able to capture the basics of ‘folding’.

Before diving, a summary of the prices. The price of Oppo Find N in China starts at CNY 7,699 which is about Rs 92,100 for the 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant. There is also a 12GB + 512GB storage option that costs CNY 8,999 which is about Rs 1,07,600. Customers can choose between black, purple and white shades. We received the purple unit with a glossy finish.

Design and display: There is no doubt that the Oppo Find N has been attracting attention from the start. At first, the phone may look like the Galaxy Z Fold 3 due to its notebook-like foldable design, but you soon realize just how compact the smartphone really is. On the outside, we get a 5.4-inch OLED display with an 18:9 aspect ratio that also makes it a very compact smartphone – even in the current Android smartphone market.

It could be a thoughtful addition for users who still prefer a smaller screen and don’t want to buy the compact iPhone 13 mini. As good as it feels in the palm of your hand, the typing experience isn’t the smoothest when folded. In that case, the weight and cluttered screen will cause you to automatically switch to the 7.1-inch main screen for a more comfortable experience. That said, with a refresh rate of 120Hz, Find N’s inner panel offers good colors and deeper blacks, thanks to OLED technology. There is no Netflix on Oppo Find N, but I watched Hawkeye on Disney Plus Hotstar and the viewing experience was expected to be good. However, the phone could have added a speaker on the top for a more 360 ​​surround sound experience.

In addition to the solid display, Oppo’s unique hinge mechanism is worth mentioning. The eye-catching water drop hinge design definitely provides an almost wrinkle-free viewing experience. It also allows users to rotate the screens to different angles, a great addition for both hard and soft surfaces. Oppo calls this the Flexion Hinge to let users take advantage of the FlexForm mode. However, the Oppo Find N lacks an official IPS rating for water and dust resistance that the company must perfect if it wants to compete with Samsung’s next-gen or current foldable smartphones. But the hinge would also be responsible for virtually no gap between the panels of the folded screen (0.01mm precision). We struggled to push a sheet of paper between the holes; however, dust particles can be much smaller and time will tell if the screen can handle this challenge.

Performance and software: The Oppo Find N comes with Snapdragon 888 which also powers the Galaxy Z Fold 3. Being a device specific to China, the phone doesn’t come preloaded with apps from Google and Facebook (now Meta). This also means that we couldn’t test the full potential of the smartphone’s software, as many apps have yet to be optimized for this form factor. In addition, the phone will run on Android 11-based ColorOS 12, but the company has confirmed that it will get Android 12-based ColorOS in the future.

For this review we received the top model 12GB RAM + 512GB. Like other Oppo phones, Oppo Find N supports RAM expansion technology that uses inactive ROM to increase RAM capacity. In this case, we can get up to 15 GB of RAM. For some strange reasons, we were unable to download the Geekbench app to test the CPU performance. But the Snapdragon 888 under the hood still remains a powerful chipset on the market and the phone can still manage productivity and gaming apps. I also enjoyed popular games like Asphalt 9 and Fruit Ninja that used the 8.4:9 aspect ratio. Needless to say, both apps worked seamlessly without any signs of heating.

We also get some useful features like a one-swipe split view, but that doesn’t work with the native camera app, Instagram and more.

cameras: There are a total of five cameras on board that generally deliver brilliant performance in daylight. The triple rear camera setup includes a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 main sensor with OIS support. The primary camera is accompanied by a 16-megapixel sensor paired with an ultra-wide angle lens and a 13-megapixel sensor paired with a telephoto lens that offers 3x optical zoom. All three cameras take clear pictures in daylight and night photography is equally good. However, some details can be lost, as with any smartphone.

The cameras also captured natural colors that may not be everyone’s cup of tea. However, if you keep AI mode enabled, high saturation and contrast are achievable, yielding an auto-edited finish. There are also multiple camera modes to play with.

But the two 32-megapixel front cameras are a bit disappointing as they seem to lack OIS support. In that case, most of the images are flat and lack details, as you can get on the Oppo Find X3 phone. It could be the reason why Oppo didn’t talk much about the camera sensors as the foldable smartphone is more productivity oriented.

Battery: Any productivity-focused smartphone isn’t complete without a good battery. The Oppo Find N has a 4500mAh (dual-cell) battery – bigger than the 4400mAh battery on the Galaxy Z Fold 3. We get an all-day battery, but keep in mind that we’re pushing the phone’s limits. could not shift since this is a China-specific unit. We get 33W SuperVOOC wired charging support that claims to charge the battery to 50 percent in half an hour. The phone takes about 80 minutes to reach full battery. We also get support for wireless and reverse wireless charging.

verdict: All this begs the pertinent question: what is the future of foldable smartphones?

Oppo tackles the most critical feature of these devices with great success – that’s practical. The 5.4-inch outer display and the 7.1-inch primary display are very easy to use and hold. Second, the aspect ratios for many apps are also beneficial if developers start optimizing the apps. Opp didn’t elaborate on cameras during the main presentation, but the Find N can still take good photos.

And most importantly, the unique water-drop hinge mechanism can be a trendsetter offering a very negligible crease in the middle – as claimed by the company.

Since the smartphone will not be launched in India, we cannot recommend whether you should consider switching to foldable at all. But before we conclude, if I have to nitpick for future foldable smartphones from Oppo, the company can explore a non-gloss finish as this model is simply a magnet for fingerprints.