OPPO has announced its first foldable phone, the Find N, although technically, it's the manufacturers seventh. OPPO says the Find N is the result of four years of research and development, which included six prototype devices. One of these was even made public a few years ago.
"New form factors are ushering in an exciting new time in smartphone technology," said OPPO Chief Product Officer Pete Lau. "OPPO has invested a significant amount of time and effort into coming up with a better approach to a foldable smartphone, experimenting with a range of form factors, hinge designs, display materials and aspect ratios, to create a new device that meets the needs of more users. With the OPPO Find N, we aim to change people’s perceptions about what a smartphone can offer and begin making foldable devices more accessible to an even larger audience."
The Find N is a foldable in the style of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, rather than the flip phone-esque Galaxy Z Flip 3. It has an external display that works like a regular phone, which then opens up like a book to reveal a secondary, larger display. Where the Find N differs from the Z Fold 3 is that's a much more compact device. The external display is just 5.49-inch and has a more traditional 18:9 aspect ratio, while the internal display is 7.1-inch. For comparison, the Z Fold 3 has a 6.2-inch external display with a tall and skinny 24.5:9 aspect ratio and a 7.6-inch internal display.
In our testing, we found the Z Fold 3's skinny external display a touch too narrow for a great typing experience. The Find N's more conventional external screen could alleviate this and make the device feel a little more "normal" when not unfolded.
While the Find N still has a crease on the internal display, OPPO says it's 80% less noticeable when compared to other foldable devices. The Find N's hinge can be unfolded at any angle from 50 to 120 degrees, and is rated for 200,000 folds.
Other key specifications for the Find N include a Snapdragon 888 processor, 12GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, a 4,500mAh battery with fast charging, and reverse wireless charging. The rear camera configuration is made up of a 50MP primary lens, 16MP ultra-wide lens, and 13MP 2x zoom lens, and both displays feature a 32GB selfie camera. Unlike the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Galaxy Z Fold 3, the Find N isn't water-resistant.
The Find N will be available in a choice of black, white, or purple. It will initially launch in China on December 23, but there are no firm plans for an international launch yet. An OPPO spokesperson said the company "wants to bring foldables to the Australian market as soon as possible", however.
The spokesperson also confirmed OPPO is still working on its rollable concept device, but said foldables are more mature and market-ready.
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