Exactly one week ago, Oppo officially launched its first clamshell folding smartphone in Europe, including Italy, which is also the company’s first folding smartphone to arrive on our market. I’m talking about Find N2 Flip which I showed you in preview last Wednesday and which I’ve been using for about ten days now. A foldable with a clamshell format that is a direct competitor of Galaxy Flip4 (HERE the review) and Motorola RAZR 2022 ( see the review ), bringing with it some features that make it even more interesting than these solutions in some respects .
Will it be enough to convince us to elect it as the best folding smartphone in its category? I’ll tell you about it in the next few lines, for the moment I can tell you that I’m a little sorry it only happened to this Flip and not also to Find N2, but it’s a subjective opinion and who knows that Oppo won’t satisfy us in the coming months. Let’s cross our fingers and enjoy this Flip, for now.
INDEX
- GOOD MATERIALS AND CAREFUL ASSEMBLY
- TWO EXCELLENT DISPLAYS
- CAMERAS OK
- HARDWARE E SOFTWARE
- DATA SHEET
- A GOOD AUTONOMY
- PRICES AND CONSIDERATIONS
GOOD MATERIALS AND CAREFUL ASSEMBLY
Let’s start immediately by taking a look at the construction and the materials because since it’s a first time, it’s not obvious that everything goes in the right direction. The back cover, obviously divided into two parts, is covered with a layer of Gorilla Glass 5 defined as “edge to edge” which slopes slightly to the sides, covering part of the edge of the smartphone. The effect is very beautiful and seen in plan view from the front it might seem entirely covered in glass. In reality there is a frame and it is made of aluminum alloy, as is the element that covers the hinge, on which the Oppo logo has been engraved.
When open, it measures only 7.5 millimeters thick, which obviously doubles when closed; but in this case the good news is given by the fact that the two parts match perfectly without leaving space even for the passage of a pin. Considering the presence of the opening and closing mechanism, even the weight is certainly not exaggerated; we are talking about 191 grams which are absolutely on average with the competition.
But let’s talk for a second about this hinge on which Oppo has worked so hard and which should guarantee up to over 400,000 opening and closing cycles. It is a hinge that offers good resistance in the first part of the movement, making accidental openings practically impossible, only to become softer as the angle increases. Technically it is possible to keep it in position within a range between 45 and 110 degrees, but in reality 99% of the time you will open it completely or at most 90 degrees or so. Having said that, even the intermediate openings are still decidedly stable.
Along the frame there are the usual elements such as the volume rocker, the USB-C 2.0 with OTG, microphones and a SIM card tray that offers two slots, both in Nano format. In fact, Find N2 Flip supports the dual SIM function both with two physical SIMs and with a physical SIM and an eSIM. Finally we have an on and off button which houses the fingerprint reader for unlocking. A fairly precise and fast sensor that has been placed in the right position to be easily operated both with the phone open and closed; easy to reach with the thumb for right-handed people and with the index finger for left-handed people.
In all of this I also greatly appreciated the assembly, absolutely precise and free from strange movements and sagging. There is also the IP54 certification for what concerns resistance to water and dust infiltration, it is obviously not like the IP68 but better than nothing.
TWO EXCELLENT DISPLAYS
Opening Find N2 Flip you are immediately in front of the main of its two displays. We are talking about an excellent 6.8-inch diagonal panel with a resolution of 2520×1080 , therefore FullHD +, a refresh rate that can go up to 120Hz and an aspect ratio of 21:9. Being an AMOLED LTPO, the variable refresh rate can theoretically pass dynamically from 1 to 120Hz , and this is actually what Oppo declares.
In reality, going to view the fps generated by the display at all times, I noticed that the passage is only from 60 to 120 in dynamic mode, while it remains fixed at 60 in the standard one. Even if you stay still on the home screen without doing anything for several minutes (obviously with a static background) the refresh rate always remains fixed at 120 without dropping even for a second. Surely this feature could have been managed better; would have allowed for further energy savings and even greater range.
Refresh rate aside we have a very bright panel . Oppo claims 500 nits of typical maximum brightness and a peak that can go up to 1600 nits. With my measurements I found the same value for what concerns the typical luminance in auto mode; while I recorded a slightly lower peak, stopping at just over 1000 nits . Probably the value declared by Oppo is recorded only in certain situations, perhaps outdoors when you are right under the full light of the sun in August. But don’t worry, these days even outdoors and with plenty of light I’ve never had viewing problems.
The accuracy in color reproduction is also good. Leaving aside the Vivid mode, which is the one set by default and visually extra-saturated and bluish, we have a Cinematographic mode , within the Pro item of the display presets, which guarantees excellent quality. Our measurements even revealed a Delta E of less than 1 for colors, using the DCI-P3 standard as a reference, an absolutely enviable result.
The external display is also very nice , which with its 3.26-inch diagonal is the largest in its category. We have not been able to measure its maximum luminance but Oppo declares 500 typical nits and 900 peak. By eye, after using it quite a bit, I can tell you that they could be values very close to the truth and, in any case, we are faced with a display that is always clearly visible, defined, with bright colors and a responsive touch.
Staying on the subject of multimedia, I’ll also talk about audio. Find N2 Flip offers a stereo speaker configuration that uses the actual speaker and the ear capsule as reinforcement. I must say that, despite this expedient, the volume obtained is very high, perhaps the highest in its category. The quality isn’t bad either, but as always the size of these speakers doesn’t allow for miracles, here there are a bit excessive mids and quite poor bass.
Even when calling you can’t complain ; the timbre returned is faithful, the volume is good for both capsule and hands-free conversations, and the microphones work well even in the most complicated conditions. And finally I was also satisfied with the vibration, pretty dry and precise as regards the haptic feedback and vigorous enough for notifications.
CAMERAS OK
Next to the external display are the two main cameras of this Find N2 Flip. The standard module offers a 50 megapixel sensor, a Sony IMX890 to be precise , and a wide lens with f/1.8 aperture. This itself is then joined by a second module with 8 megapixel Sony IMX355 sensor and ultra-wide lens with 16mm equivalent focal length and f/2.2 aperture. Both can then enjoy the company of the NPU Marisilicon X , a chip introduced last year on board the top of the range of the Find X series and designed to improve camera performance by exploiting machine learning and artificial intelligence. There is also the collaboration with Hasselblad, with which Oppo collaborated for the development of the software and shooting algorithms.
The photos taken during the day with the two cameras are very good. They have a very wide dynamic range, all in favor of an HDR that can work in ideal conditions and is thus always natural. The noise, especially in the monochromatic backgrounds, is decidedly reduced, with the sky having a very fine and often almost imperceptible grain. The level of detail is also very good, even if, especially for the ultra-wide, there is a fairly copious use of the unsharp mask. The focus is then fast and precise and scene recognition works well.
Obviously in low light conditions the situation is decidedly different. The night mode comes to our rescue which, however, if you have the AI enhancement function active, is substantially integrated into the classic photo mode. The parameters and algorithms applied are in fact the same as for the dedicated night mode and the results can be superimposed pixel by pixel.
In contrast to photos in the light, the main camera has a distinct advantage in these situations. The photos taken with the latter retain a good overall quality. The dynamics remain very good, the development of the shadow areas allows to contain the background noise while still guaranteeing an adequate contrast and even the direct light sources are well managed. The flair phenomena are very limited and in general it is difficult to see burnt parts, both in the shadows and in the highlights. All in all, more than good results for the category.
The situation is different with regard to the wide angle, for which a greater degradation is immediately noticeable . The photos are still enjoyable if observed on the smartphone display, but if we magnify them a little we cannot fail to notice a more widespread noise, less contrasted shadow areas and details that are generally more smeared. However, the vividness of the colors remains unchanged, which in any case contributes to making the images more pleasant.
The strength of this smartphone in terms of cameras, however, is certainly given by its versatility and flexibility . The fact of being able to fold it 90 degrees and place it on any support surface allows us to take advantage of the main cameras in a deeper way and in a greater number of situations. You can take excellent quality selfies, or show the framed subject his pose and what surrounds him, or we can still take advantage of the stability given by the support surface to shoot with professional settings and higher shutter speeds without risking running into camera shake. In short, all situations that make it almost useless to have an internal camera which in any case is of excellent quality here.
We are talking about a module with 32 megapixel resolution and auto-focus that is capable of taking very good photos both during the day and in the evening. There is portrait mode, of course, which also works quite well, and there is the possibility of activating all the appropriate filters to improve the image obtained. However, as I told you, the fact of having such a large display externally and of being able to take advantage of the external cameras also for selfies means that this internal camera is mainly useful for video calls or the like.
We are obviously not dealing with a camera phone, but it is absolutely normal. The dimensions of the smartphone are contained and the space available to arrange the cameras is objectively little. Doing more is certainly complex and would probably result in a greater thickness, at least of the camera modules. Honestly, on this type of device I prefer to have these results, which are still excellent, maintaining a thinner profile.
And then I also have to tell you about the videos because the flexibility and versatility of having a folding smartphone in your hands also allow us to hold this Find N2 Flip as if it were a “Handycam” thus maintaining a more stable grip. Not that there’s a need; just the stabilization is in my view the strong point of this smartphone in terms of video. there is no OIS but in the face of a small crop we have a very effective electronic stabilization. Too bad that the videos can be shot at a maximum resolution of 4K 30fpswith main and 1080p 60fps with wide angle. For the rest we have good sharpness, fast focus and good backlight management. The colors are not as vivid as in the photos but in general the rendering is still satisfactory.
HARDWARE E SOFTWARE
And part of the reasons for the fact that the video capture resolution is limited to 4K 30 fps is certainly due to the ISP of the SoC that we find inside this Find N2 Flip. We are talking about the Mediatek Dimensity 9000+ , Mediatek’s top-of-the-range chipset which has been optimized here to be able to make the most of it inside a folding smartphone of this type. Oppo has assured us that it’s not just about marketing and that the engineers have really worked hard to adjust frequencies and modes of use to minimize energy expenditure and overheating situations.
And actually in these 10 days I’ve always had the impression of having a well-optimized product in my hands. No noticeable lag, fast loading, sufficiently responsive system and very very limited overheating. I noticed that the phone was heating up a bit only in two moments: during the configuration (while downloading about 100 applications) and with the hotspot active for over half an hour. In short, nothing to worry about, indeed, very good thermal management considering the spaces available for dissipation.
The version sold in Italy then supports this SoC with an 8GB LPDDR5 RAM memory and 256GB of storage on UFS 3.1 memories. The RAM can be expanded via settings up to 12GB using a portion of the storage memory, but honestly I’ve never felt the need for it.
Nothing is missing even in terms of connectivity. Find N2 Flip offers WiFi 6, Bluetooth version 5.3 and 5G data connectivity . The reception is absolutely good, the cells are hooked up quickly and you never have to “wait” for the connection. The first time registration on the network is also very fast, so much so that last week in London it hooked up to the roaming network even faster than my iPhone 14 Pro Max.
But let’s talk about the software for a moment because in this type of device it is a component that plays a very important role. On board this Find N2 Flip we obviously find Android 13 which is customized with the Color OS 13 user interface. A Color OS that we already know perfectly and which has improved a lot over time, offering a good level of customization and worthy optimization of a brand of the importance of Oppo. In a normal situation this would have been enough, but here it is clear that this is not just any smartphone and personally I would have liked some more news and some additional tools to be able to make the most of the external display and also the fact that it is a smartphone folding.
OPPO FIND N2 FLIP DATA SHEET
- display:
- esterno: AMOLED 3,26″ 720×382, 30/60Hz, 250ppi, 800nit, Corning Gorilla Glass 5
- interno: AMOLED LTPO 6,8″ FHD+, 1-120Hz, 403ppi, 1.200nit, vetro UTG
- processore: MediaTek Dimensity 9000+
- memory:
- 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM
- 256GB interna UFS 3.1
- connettività: 5G, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C, NFC, GPS
- fingerprint sensor: lateral
- cameras:
- frontal: 32MP, f/2.4, FOV 90°, AF
- posteriori:
- 50MP main, f/1.8, FOV 86°, AF
- 8MP ultra wide angle, f/2.2, FOV 112°
- battery: 4.300mAh with 44W SUPERVOOC recharge
- size:
- aperto: 166,2 x 75,2 x 7,45 mm
- closed: 85.5×75.2×16.02mm
- peso: 191g
Remaining on the internal display there is no function specifically designed to take advantage of the form factor. The only apps that adapt to the different positions of the display are those that take advantage of the Android APIs, as well as obviously the camera, which however is the minimum wage.
Looking instead at the external display, however, we currently have only 5 widgets with which to exploit it; in addition to the AOD function. There is that of the camera, the most useful for posting, that of the calendar, the weather, the voice recorder and a widget dedicated to TWS headphones. The latter allows you to check the battery status of the earphones and activate / deactivate the different noise cancellation modes. During the launch event a widget for Spotify was shown which is currently not yet available, and from Oppo we were informed that an SDK for the development of these widgets will not be released.Oppo itself will contact the developers of the apps for which it is interested in having the widget to provide them with the development kit. We hope soon and we hope that these apps are many.
Finally, we also need to talk for a second about the management of notifications from the secondary display. These are all received without problems but only some can be viewed completely. These are mainly Telegram and Whatsapp private chats and, of course, SMS. We can also respond to these notifications, currently only with emojis or pre-set messages. For the rest we have Gmail that shows only sender and subject, notifications from groups that show only the name of the group and system notifications that give an almost never complete preview. This group of alerts can only be archived, deleted or opened on the main display, forcing us to open the smartphone.
I really hope that Oppo works hard in the coming months on the development and integration of new functions related to the secondary display. Its size, in fact, greater than that of any alternative, makes it ready to accommodate far more complex applications than those now available.
A GOOD AUTONOMY
We then close by talking about battery and autonomy because another of the primates of this Find N2 Flip is hidden here. In fact, we are talking about the folding clamshell with the largest battery: 4300 mAh. A battery that allows us, thanks also to the optimization mentioned above, to arrive safely at dinner time with a good amount of residual charge. For example, on a day as a tourist in London with heavy use of the camera and Google Maps, I arrived in the evening with still a 15-20% battery, which allowed me to feel comfortable even after dinner.
But if we find ourselves in difficulty, we also have 44W charging with SuperVOOC technology, which is the fastest charging currently available on a foldable in this format. It allows you to charge your smartphone from 0 to 100 in less than an hour and to reach 80% charge in just 30 minutes. The charger in the package, moreover, is the 67W one, which can also be used to charge many of the notebooks currently on the market.
PRICES AND CONSIDERATIONS
Right from the start, Oppo declared that it did not necessarily want to be the first to bring this type of solution to the market; the important thing is to arrive with a ready and well-functioning product. So much so that the development of folding products even began at the time of the launch of the first Find X, the one equipped with that lifting system to hide the cameras. Well, I must say that the goal has been achieved. Although it is a first time this Find N2 Flip is certainly a well made and convincing product. With some sins of youth, of course, but very few developments will be enough to improve it a lot and make it even more attractive.
PURCHASE LINK ON OPPO STORE 
OPPO Find N2 Flip Smartphone 5G, AI Dual Camera 50+8MP, Selfie 32MP, 6.8 / 3.26 “120HZ AMOLED Display, 4300mAh, RAM 8GB (up to 16GB), ROM 256GB, + Car Support [Italian Version], Astral Black
€ 1199
Ok but how much does it cost? At the moment the price list reads 1199 euros which, net of various promotions of any kind, is exactly the same price as the Galaxy Z Flip4 in the 8/256 GB version. We are therefore talking about a figure clearly in line with the closest competition and which, thanks to the launch promos, considering various discount coupons and the value of the additional guarantee, drops to just over 1000 euros. If you are then part of the Oppo Community, until February 28 it is possible to register to try the device for 20 days and decide, at the end of these, whether to return it or buy it at the special price of 999 euros.
PROS AND CONS
Largest display cover in the category Largest battery in the category 44W fast charging The crease is barely visible
Limited display cover functions Screen refresh rate management Video only up to 4K 30fps
VOTE: 8.2
