Oppo Find N2 Flip Handson: Fixing The Foldable's Shortcomings

Samsung has become the foldable phone company in just a few years. for now Competitors either failed to release their own smartphone origami projects or could not compete vertically with the Z Fold (horizontally foldable) or Z Flip (foldable "flip phones").

But Oppo has taken note. Last year, it was announced that the second generation of foldable phones will compete with Samsung in the same form factors. While the West isn't getting the larger Find N2 Fold right now, in the UK and Europe we're getting the Oppo Find N2 Flip. I love foldable phone iterations of foldable devices, so I'm glad it's coming from China.

In many ways, the Find N2 Flip tries to overcome some of the shortcomings of existing Flip devices. (And I'll say it right away: I loved the Galaxy Z Flip 4), but there's always room for improvement. Oppo's focus is on the external screen, which is currently the largest clamshell screen in a clamshell smartphone at 3.26 inches. Although it more closely replicates smartphone screen orientation, don't expect Android-style icons or user interfaces like those found on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold.

However, you get a more functional area for viewing images from the main camera. The 17:9 aspect ratio makes more sense for framing your photos than the Galaxy Z Flip with its horizontal screen. You might think Samsung's app is good for notifications, but with a larger screen, the Find N2 Flip can display up to six lines of text in your notifications - enough for text messages and even app previews. There's more room to move notifications, calendar events, etc., which can be difficult on the Z Flip 4. Oppo also offers several pre-programmed responses, so you can send a subtle (or lazy) response without opening the Tap N2 Flip.

You can quickly launch the camera by pressing the volume down button twice. Just make sure the phone is in idle mode, otherwise the volume will just go down. The front screen has a cute animated animal pet: you can choose between a dog, cat, unknown bird, hamster or rabbit and they come to life when you activate the front screen. It's a nice addition, but it would have been nice to have Tamagotchi-style features that depend on the number of steps or even the battery life of the device.

One thing a foldable phone has is that the main cameras are your selfie cameras. Like the China-only larger Find N2 Fold, the Flip series features a 50-megapixel f/1.8 main camera with an 8-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide camera. It is the main sensor with a higher resolution than the Z Flip 4. The most noticeable difference in this week's review was the 2x zoom switch, which is definitely a digital product, but still a plus. Having such high megapixels. There are sensors before.

Another advantage of the larger front screen is that you can activate preview mode when someone is taking your picture. This makes it easy to make sure a stranger isn't putting everything in your group photo or that they're taking a video instead of a still photo. (Me too.) Oppo's Hasselblad partnership has again announced color calibration options for the camera. If you like bright color filters (I do), you can get a few of them directly from the Camera app.

There's also a 32-megapixel f/2.4 front-facing camera if you're feeling a bit less. As with Samsung's foldable devices, some apps adjust the phone when you tilt the screen up at an angle. It has a camera app, as well as YouTube and video calling apps. The hinge itself isn't as sturdy as the Z Flip, so it's more likely to break, but once you get the angle right you're fine. Oppo says the hinge's range of motion is between 45 and 110 degrees.

The company boasts a thin fold thanks to a thin hinge. It claims that its second-generation folding case has 63% less noticeable wrinkles—that's… specific . It's still easy to poke fun at for being there , but it's definitely fancier than the foldable phones that came before it. Oppo's new Flexion hinge is also smaller, and its teardrop design leaves less space between the sides when closed. This is especially noticeable compared to the Z Flip 4.

Another area where Oppo has made a smart improvement is battery capacity. The Find N2 Flip has a 4300mAh cell, the largest we've seen in this form factor and closer to the Z Fold 4 than the Z Flip 4, as well as 44W fast charging support. Still, it has a decent form factor. Advantage. , but Oppo's brother/cousin/outlier OnePlus already features a more modest smartphone with 100W support However, the company claims that it will be fully charged within an hour. (I'll update this story after testing the battery further.) However, unlike OnePlus' latest phones, there's no wireless charging.

The device will be available in Astral Black and Moonlit Purple and will cost £849 in the UK (approx. Bring any Find N2 devices to the US).

Oppo Find N2 review: A foldable device with wide appeal