Newsletter
Someone properly brought a worthy competitor to Samsung’s foldables to the market. The company in question is OPPO, as it finally launched one of its foldable smartphones to global markets. The device in question is the OPPO Find N2 Flip, and we’re here to review it. This smartphone initially launched in China in December, while OPPO announced it globally earlier this month. This is the company’s very first foldable that is leaving OPPO’s homeland, and it’s a very fine first addition to the global foldable market.
The OPPO Find N2 Flip has a lot to offer, and in my opinion, brings far better hardware than the Galaxy Z Flip 4, its direct competitor. It has its advantages, and its disadvantages, all of which we’ll talk about below. Before we begin, let’s just say that the other OPPO foldable, the OPPO Find N2, won’t be coming to global markets. OPPO wanted to kick off its global foldables lineup with a clamshell foldable, but we may get a book-type foldable next year. In any case, let’s get started.
Table of contents
OPPO Find N2 Flip Review: Hardware / Design
In the intro, I mentioned that I prefer the OPPO Find N2 Flip hardware over what the Galaxy Z Flip 4 has to offer. There are actually several reasons for that. It’s not that the Galaxy Z Flip 4 doesn’t feel good, but the OPPO Find N2 Flip simply does things better. I have to get that out of the way first, as it’s what makes this phone stand out. When folded, the OPPO Find N2 Flip offers a gapless design, unlike its competitor. On top of that, thanks to OPPO’s hinge, the crease is barely noticeable, and you can barely feel it on the display. For me, personally, that made a huge difference, as it did on the OPPO Find N2. Furthermore, that cover display is the largest on any clamshell foldable (and it’s vertical), and it has huge potential. More on that later.
It has major hardware advantages over the Galaxy Z Flip 4
Those are the three main reasons I prefer this design. The OPPO Find N2 Flip also feels very premium in the hand. It is made out of metal and glass, and has flat sides. When it’s unfolded, it’s very thin, and it feels even thinner in the hand. The phone’s main display has thin bezels, and a centered display camera hole. Folding and unfolding the device feels like a treat, as the phone snaps into place with ease. And yes, you can fold it halfway, to use it as a stand for group photos, or something like that. The hinge feels sturdy, which is great. The downside is that the phone doesn’t always stay comfortably folded at an angle. It opened all the way for me while it was sitting open at an angle, which is not ideal, needless to say. The good news is, this won’t happen if you fold it halfway, only if you try a different angle.
The side-facing fingerprint scanner works really well
This handset also has a side-facing fingerprint scanner which worked really well for us. It’s not the fastest capacitive fingerprint scanner I’ve used, but it’s close to it. It did miss my fingerprint here and there at first, but then I redid my fingerprint, and it worked great after that. All the physical buttons are located on the right-hand side, and the power/lock button doubles as a fingerprint scanner. The phone has two cameras on the back, which you can use for selfies, thanks to that cover display.
It even has IPX4 rating, which is better than nothing
The overall feeling of the OPPO Find N2 Flip hardware is… well, excellent. I really only have one complaint, the lack of better resistance. This phone does come with an IPX4 rating, compared to the Galaxy Z Flip 4’s IPX8 rating. Other than that, I do believe that the company nailed it on the hardware side of things, and that goes for both its latest Find N2 series foldables.
A plastic case is included in the retail box
The OPPO Find N2 Flip retail box does include a case. Truth be said, this is your regular, plastic hard shell case. It doesn’t really feel premium at all, but it’ll do the job until you get something better. Luckily, OPPO does offer nicer cases for the device, but there are already plenty of third-party ones you can offer. I’ve included three images in the gallery below. The first image shows you the case included in the retail box, while the other two include ones that OPPO sent us to check out, but are not included along with the phone.
Other official cases are available to purchase separately
Those two cases are the ‘Portable PU Case’, and the company’s wallet case for the device. The Portable PU Case is made out of silicone, and it feels like you’d expect. It does offer really good protection, and is a really interesting fashion choice with a loop attached to it. You can easily use your finger in collaboration with this loop to grip the phone while you’re holding it, or attach it to something. It can certainly be used as a lanyard.
The wallet case feels nice. It has space for the device on the inside, and also your cards, or some cash perhaps. It can be a one case solution for all that, that’s for sure. When you do stick everything inside, though, it does end up being a bit bulkier than I’d like. I do feel like OPPO should have released a really nice leather case for the device, that would certainly scream “premium”. It seems like OPPO is aiming at younger users with this phone, though, so this makes sense.
OPPO Find N2 Flip Review: Display
The OPPO Find N2 Flip has a main 6.8-inch fullHD+ foldable display. That is a 120Hz panel, which can reach up to 1,600 nits of peak brightness under certain conditions. It has a 21:9 aspect ratio, so it’s quite tall and narrow. The cover panel measures 3.26 inches, and it’s also an AMOLED panel. That display is protected by the Gorilla Glass 5, and it has a resolution of 720 x 382. That cover display is the largest we’ve seen in a clamshell smartphone to date.
Having said that, the main display does have a crease on it, but thanks to OPPO’s hinge, it’s barely noticeable. That goes for both the visual aspect, and the tactile aspect, you can barely feel it under your fingers. That’s a sharp contrast to what you’re getting on the Galaxy Z Flip 4, for example. If you’re annoyed by that crease on the Galaxy Z Flip 4, this may be the phone for you. It’s still there, but it’s much less noticeable.
The main display offers vivid colors, and hides the crease really well
The main display on its own is really good. It is vivid, has good viewing angles, and it’s plenty sharp. On top of that, the blacks are quite deep. It’s a really, really good fullHD+ panel, even the touch response is really good, and the display doesn’t seem plasticky to the touch, which can be the case with some foldables.
The cover display, on the other hand, is also really good. The colors are vivid, and it’s quite spacious for a cover display, as mentioned earlier. The touch response is really good too, and you’re getting pre-installed protection on it, though it’s not really all that necessary, as the Gorilla Glass 5 protects this panel. From the functionality perspective, it’s a different story entirely, however. OPPO did promise to keep updating the functionality of this cover display, but it’s kind of a missed opportunity.
The cover display is quite spacious, but underutilized
How’s that? Well, this cover display, from the functionality standpoint, is closer to something you get on a smartwatch. You do not have full use of your phone via that panel, as you get on Motorola’s foldables, for example. You do get access to your notifications, but even that is limited. On top of that, you can reply via predetermined replies, but not actually type on it. You can also see only the last message in a conversation, which is a problem, needless to say, and it limits the functionality of this display. Another example of its limitation is the fact you can’t really read emails on it. You can see the subject of an email on Gmail, but not the actual email.
The number of widgets is also limited at the moment. It does most of the same things as the Galaxy Z Flip 4, despite the fact it’s considerably larger, and vertical. Motorola’s foldables offer way more functionality. Those limitations are a problem, and they kind of make this display, well… I wouldn’t say useless, but way less useful than it should be. OPPO should allow it to do way more, and we do hope the company will, but it’ll take time.
Taking selfies on this phone is an excellent experience
Don’t get me wrong, it has its uses, of course. It’s great for taking selfies, and shooting videos, for example. You can use the phone’s main camera setup to do all that, and have a nicely sized viewfinder. It’s also great to control your music player without opening the phone, and running a stopwatch or something like that. As I said, though, this cover display should be able to do way, way more than that. Let’s hope OPPO will realize that following the initial batch of reviews, and do its best to remove the chains that hold it back.
OPPO Find N2 Flip Review: Performance
The MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ SoC fuels this handset. OPPO opted to go with MediaTek instead of Qualcomm, and it’s possible this move was made so that the phone reaches a certain price tag. The good news is, this is not a bad thing per se. I didn’t really notice any problems with this processor during my usage. Using something like the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 would possibly offer a bit more in terms of battery life, but the Dimensity 9000+ did great overall.
The phone was immensely smooth during my usage, no doubt about that. It ran through anything I threw at it, and that goes for gaming as well. Even Genshin Impact ran nicely on this phone, along with several other games I’ve tried out. The same can be said for simpler tasks as well. Multitasking works great, apps open really fast, and multimedia consumption is not a problem either. The camera launches fast, and reliably, and so on. I really don’t have any complaints about the performance of the OPPO Find N2 Flip.
OPPO Find N2 Flip Review: Battery
The OPPO Find N2 Flip is equipped with a 4,300mAh battery. That is actually a really nicely-sized battery pack for this phone. The Galaxy Z Flip 4, for comparison’s sake, includes a 3,700mAh battery. Now, you probably wonder what that means for the battery life. Well, it’s good, but it’s not great. If you’re a heavy user, you may need to top-up this phone before the end of the day.
The battery life is good, but not great
If you’re wondering what that means in terms of screen-on-time. Well, that variable will differ from one user to the next, but for me, that meant that I can get around 6.5-7 hours of screen-on-time, usually. Do note that I play games only for testing purposes, it’s not something I do in my usual day-to-day usage. I do use my phone for everything else, though. That includes streaming music and podcasts, taking plenty of pictures, browsing, messaging, answering emails, image editing, and more.
44W charging is plenty fast
If you do run out of juice ahead of time, do note that you have 44W charging at your disposal here. This charging can get you to 50% in 23 minutes, and charge up the phone fully in an hour. The charger is also included in the box, so you don’t have to worry about that either. The phone does not support wireless charging, though, so keep that in mind.
OPPO Find N2 Flip Review: Camera
Let’s talk about those cameras. The OPPO Find N2 Flip has a 50-megapixel main camera with multi-directional PDAF, but no OIS. It also includes an 8-megapixel ultrawide camera with a 112-degree FoV, on the back. On the front, it uses a 32-megapixel wide-angle camera. Those cameras performed well, and for the vast majority of users, they’ll do the job brilliantly. My job is to nitpick, though, and give you a better idea as to what to expect here.
Hasselblad’s color tuning is noticeable
So, first and foremost, the Find N2 Flip cameras love to emphasize colors. I’m not talking about oversaturating photos, not at all, but they tend to nicely show off colors, they end up looking rich and vivid. That is a nice look, especially in low light. This probably has something to do with Hasselblad’s color tuning, and we’re glad it’s here. Overall, the main camera does a really good job in basically all lighting conditions, and it even keeps street light reflections at bay most of the time.
The images end up looking quite good, in most scenarios
The images do end up looking rather detailed, and well-balanced. Even in high dynamic range situations, it doesn’t fall apart, though it doesn’t do as good of a job as a number of other higher-end phones we’ve tested. The ultrawide camera does fall apart in low light, though. The images do end up looking soft, and quite muddy, while the street lights get overblown easily.
Needless to say, selfies do look excellent, as you’ll be using the phone’s main cameras to take them, most of the time, at least. The subject separation is also quite good. This is one of the best phones for taking selfies at the moment, actually. The video quality is good, despite the lack of OIS, as long as you keep the ‘AI’ mode turned on, and let OPPO’s custom NPU do its thing.
OPPO Find N2 Flip Review: Software
The OPPO Find N2 Flip ships with Android 13 out of the box. On top of Google’s OS, you’ll find OPPO’s ColorOS 13 skin. That is basically what you’re getting on the OnePlus 11, but it’s called OxygenOS there. The two implementations are very similar. The software on its own is very good, but it’s different from stock Android. There are some differences that may annoy you, but we didn’t really stumble upon really weird bugs or anything of the sort. ColorOS ran smoothly during our usage, very smoothly, actually.
OPPO’s ColorOS brings plenty of features to the table
There are your usual added features here, such as added gestures for launching actions. Smart Sidebar, Flexible windows, and so on. There’s also a high level of customizability available here, which includes not only the home screen, but also the status bar, and more. We’ve already talked about the cover display in the display section, but OPPO needs to improve its offering in that regard. ColorOS needs to offer more functionality for the cover display, especially this one, as it’s quite spacious for a cover display (on a clamshell foldable). If you’d like to know more about that, check out the display section.
ColorOS shouldn’t really be a reason you stay away from this phone, as it really did work great. It works great for years now, on OPPO devices, and the company really did polish it out. As long as you’re not expecting a stock offering, you’ll probably enjoy it.
OPPO Find N2 Flip Review: Should you buy it?
So, should you buy the OPPO Find N2 Flip? Well, it all depends on what you’re looking for in a smartphone. If you’re even considering this phone, you’re probably interested in clamshell foldable phones. There are not many such phones available out there, and this is one of the best ones. If you’re not a fan of the Galaxy Z Flip 4, this could be an ideal alternative for you. Not only does it fold flat, without gaps, but it also has a much less noticeable crease on the display. It also has a much larger cover display, which is vertical, and faster charging too. The OPPO Find N2 Flip does feel like a really premium product, and one you should consider if you’re in the market for a clamshell foldable.
You should buy the OPPO Find N2 Flip if:
- You want a gapless design when the device is folded
- You hate the crease on the Galaxy Z Flip 4
- You want a larger cover display than other clamshell foldable offer
- You like cameras that provide contrasty images with rich colors
- You prefer ColorOS to One UI
- You don’t care about wireless charging
- You want a charger included in the box
You shouldn’t buy the OPPO Find N2 Flip if:
- You want the most cohesive software experience for foldables
- You really need proper water resistance
- You don’t want to use a phone without wireless charging