Oppo Find N2 Handson Impressions: A Sign Of Things To Come

The Oppo Find N2 is the company's second commercially available foldable tablet phone. However, like the original Find N, it is still only available in China (for now) and our little time with the device was spent fixing some issues in the phone's Chinese software. However, Find N2 has a lot to talk about.

Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, Oppo opted for a compact form factor. When closed, the phone measures just 132.2mm x 72.6mm, which is significantly smaller and slightly wider than its main competitor. It's thinner and lighter, with a weight drop from 42g to 233g, and is 1.3mm thinner when closed than the first Find N. The end result is a non-slip finish that's very comfortable to wear and carry in your pocket. Reaching the top or bottom of the home screen with one hand is easy.

Speaking of which, the front display is now a gorgeous 5.54-inch 120Hz AMOLED panel, although it still lacks LTPO technology for ultra-low refresh rates. Despite its size, this screen is sufficient for texting, receiving calls and even short web browsing sessions.

Open it up and you'll see a 7.1" AMOLED LTPO 120Hz panel designed for reading and multitasking. It's wider than Samsung's implementation, making it more comfortable to watch videos, though the internal bezel is smaller overall. Unfortunately, the plastic coating on the screen does leave some fingerprints... This foldable screen still doesn't feel as premium as a traditional glass-coated panel.

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Oppo claims the Find N2's most important crease is now invisible from most angles. That's what happens when you look directly at the screen, which you often do. As you can see above, it looks very flat with no visible lines.

However, if you look at the screen from a slight angle, especially on a bright white screen, you will see two creases in the center. But in general, wrinkles are not a problem. At least when the phone is fresh out of the box.

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Oppo claims they have greatly improved the 2nd generation Flexion Hinge for the Find N2. It is small, has a slim profile, is strong and can work at an angle from 45 to 125 degrees. I don't have a tread, but the frame actually wants to align when it's rotated 90 degrees, so I'm not sure about Oppo's marketing. Even with flush turned off, the Find N2 still doesn't have a water resistance rating.

The Find N2's form factor is ideal for one-handed use.

When we briefly used the original Oppo Find N last year, we were impressed with its hardware and still are. While there are some changes to the original compressible material, most of them are improvements. But I'm not bad. I wish the internal bezels were a little thinner, although Oppo has slimmed down this generation.

What has changed in Find N2?

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ColorOS 13 looks familiar, but there are a few changes. You now have a beautiful taskbar with active and recently used apps for quick access and better multitasking. This is definitely an improvement over last year. However, the taskbar is limited to just four favorite apps, although you can access it through folders.

Unfortunately, the taskbar is tied to the home screen, which means you can't quickly access apps while one or two windows are open. It's certainly not as efficient as Samsung's implementation of the taskbar, which stays at the bottom of the screen even when running three apps at the same time, allowing you to instantly switch between apps. You'll find yourself returning to the home screen more often with the drag-and-drop Find N2. You can enable Oppo's smart sidebar add-on, but it basically duplicates the taskbar to solve a problem that only the taskbar should solve.

Thus, multitasking is not completely seamless. Placing two apps side by side is easy enough thanks to the swipe down feature in the middle, but if you have two windows side by side you can tap to install. Oppo lets you open three apps at the same time using a floating window, which is probably enough. However, you can't put three screens side by side, Samsung-style.

But again, powerful multitasking is also hampered by Android's lack of support for more complex collapsible items and a general inability for apps to interact with each other. Some apps have a drag and drop element when using them, such as quickly moving text from a web page into a note using the Oppo or Chrome browser. However, this won't work if you switch to Firefox. Likewise, some apps don't auto-fill the inner screen, and of course, only a few work with Oppo's "FlexForm" mode. However, he does have YouTube as well as the Oppo Camera app, which is great for including yourself in group photos.

Oppo's multitasking tools have improved, but not in the way we've seen on a foldable device.

The questionable nature of app support is why Oppo has yet to decide whether to bring the Find N2 to markets outside of China. Perhaps Chinese users are using Oppo's internal apps more often and/or the app market is smaller and more regulated. During our previous briefing, Oppo mentioned its close working relationship with China's biggest developer and its commitment to providing similar support in Western markets. But the wild west of the Google Store, not to mention the larger Android app ecosystem, offers a solid user experience outside of China.

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Another big change with the Find N2 is that the camera suite now comes with the Hasselblad logo. This partnership includes Hasselblad Pro manual mode, RAW capture and RAW Plus (10-bit).

In addition, the characteristics of the camera have also changed. There is now a much larger 1/2" 48MP ultra-wide camera (versus the 1/3.1" 13MP camera) and a slightly larger 1/2.74" 32MP 2x telephoto lens (versus with 1/3.4" 13MP camera). , complete with a wider aperture. The improved camera sensor should help the Find N2 take much better photos than last year.

Oppo clearly wants to show that foldable phones don't have to compromise on camera quality and specs. It will tell you if you can pick the best camera phone in the business.

Oppo Find N2: our impressions

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If there's anything important to take away from the Find N2, it's that Oppo knows how to make great hardware. This is Oppo's vision for foldable devices, and it's highly regarded in several important areas. Robust hinge and minimal closing gap, maximum hidden folds, material construction and compact form factor are the main advantages of Find N2 even after a short use of the device. I still don't want or need that big screen, but the Find N2 is like a flip phone that you want to carry in your pocket.

All this makes me want more phone software. Obviously, the version of the phone we tested was only designed and optimized for the Chinese market and popular apps there, so it's hard to predict exactly what the experience will be like for Western audiences. I'd love to see what this phone looks like with all the parts, though there's still room for improvement in the multitasking setup.

While the Find N2 won't be coming to the West, this is a positive sign for the Find N2 Flip.

Unfortunately, this is another foldable phone that is unlikely to hit the global market anytime soon. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 will get a free ticket as a foldable option, which is not good for consumer choice and is driving the foldable market. However, the Oppo Find N2 Flip appears to hit Western audiences next year. We will definitely keep our ears open.

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