Adding useful novelties to broaden the user experience is the philosophy with which Oppo approaches foldables. It does so starting with the Find N2 Flip, the smallest in the range characterised by the clamshell form factor that in recent weeks has been launched in China together with the Find N2, the phone with a flexible screen dedicated to business users. The Find N2 Flip arrives after three years of development and four prototypes with a set of world-class numbers that make Oppo the potential first challenger to Samsung. For the time being, only the first Flip signed by the Dongguan company is arriving in Europe, which is also the first Chinese foldable to leave the country’s borders after Huawei’s Mate X, demonstrating a passing of the baton announced by the agreement between the two companies for the use of their respective technologies.

A growing market in which to emerge

With the dominance of sales on a global scale due to the wide margin by which the Koreans moved on foldable smartphones before everyone else, Samsung is looking down on everyone. Still, the Find N2 Flip, like Motorola’s Razr 2022 (and the forthcoming debuts of Vivo and Honor), proves that there is room in a newly born market segment destined to erode market share from ‘traditional’ smartphones in the medium and long term. A Trendforce report estimates a growth of 12.8 to 18.5 million units on a global scale by 2023, and Oppo wants to squeeze into this increase in China and the rest of the world.

“We needed to be there and bring something extra to a young and competitive market. We did this with design, display and battery features to offer a different and unprecedented experience for foldable smartphones. The Find N2 Flip is our way of communicating what the emblem of the future and Oppo’s strength is, we know that it will not be the best-selling model and will be bought by those who want to experience a new smartphone concept. It is a significant first step,” said Isabella Lazzini, Chief of Marketing Operation Oppo Italy.

The cover display makes the difference

Not the first, but the best is the claim that opens the presentation of the Find N2 Flip, staged at Magazine London. While it is certainly not the first folding clamshell, the cards on the table to elevate it as a reference model are there both on a technical level and in terms of user experience. The distinguishing feature is the cover screen, which at 3.26 inches is the largest in its category and, with its portrait orientation, allows you to keep track of up to six notifications at a time. You can therefore answer calls, record voice notes, take a selfie and reply to messages with the different apps you use.

Being able to monitor multiple notifications from the outside means you can avoid constantly opening your phone to check incoming notifications, with the option of letting the non-priority ones go after instantly viewing the sender. At the same time, a swipe is enough to call up the front camera features and choose the type of shot or to start a video. There is also no shortage of screen customisation, with animal lovers able to select from cat, dog, rabbit, hamster and Tamagochi-style bird the figure to interact with each time the display is unlocked.

The plus of the new Flexion Hinge

Important numbers are also those concerning weight and thickness, in the order of 191 grams and 7.45 millimetres when closed, which, although slightly less than the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, demonstrate the compactness of a phone that differs from its peers also thanks to the Flexion Hinge, that compared to the one used on the Find N is composed of a lower number of components, reducing potential problems.

There are two visible advantages that this system ensures: when closing the smartphone, the two parts join perfectly without leaving any open spaces where dirt and dust can get in, while when opening the phone, the fold is almost invisible, even if you gradually tend to notice it because the eye falls on it all the time (at least in my case). As for the numbers, the hinge has been tested to withstand more than 400,000 folds (certified by TÜV Rheinland, a leading international certification body), which on average corresponds to about 100 opening/closing cycles per day for ten years, so any malfunctions should be averted.

Returning to the battery, another arrow in the quiver of the Find N2 Flip, which with a 4300 mAh module mounts the largest battery among the Flips on the market, with a 44W SuperVooc charging system that reaches 50 per cent in 23 minutes and finishes charging in less than an hour. And if there is little time to plug in, know that 15 minutes of charging equals 4 hours of streaming, 4 hours of music and 1 hour on social media. With polished aluminium edges and an anti-fingerprint glass cover, the N2 Flip features a 6.8-inch E6 Amoled internal display with 1600nits maximum brightness and an adaptive refresh rate from 1 to 120 Hz, a 21:9 aspect ratio.

Equipped with a MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ chipset, the Oppo Flip relies on MariSilicon X, the Neutral Processing Unit already seen on board the Find X5, which intervenes in image processing to improve videos, with particular reference to the sharpness of 4K night movies. The Chinese company emphasises that in order to make the most of the smartphone’s potential, it is useful to bend it partially to one side, as with a video camera, to ensure a more stable grip.

A camera to unleash creativity

For shots, the rear camera relies on a 50-megapixel Sony IMX890 sensor and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera. In this context, the partnership with Hasselblad, which has taken care of the Professional and XPAN photo modes, with which the best results in terms of image quality can be achieved, should be highlighted. On the front side is a 32-megapixel selfie camera, which can unleash the creativity of shooting and the use of the hands since, with the FlexForm mode, the aperture can be juggled between 45 and 100 degrees. From a practical point of view, you can shoot while resting the smartphone on any flat surface (apart from slippery ones to avoid falls).

Availability and price

Another new feature for all its top-of-the-range products that Oppo introduces with the Find N2 Flip is the extended support for the smartphone, with four ColorOS releases and five years of security updates. A step that puts it on par with Samsung and OnePlus (brands under the control of Oppo itself) among Android manufacturers.

With packaging made from recycled and biodegradable materials, the Find N2 Flip arrives in Astral Black and Moonlit Purple (which winks at women most interested in foldable clamshell smartphones, themselves much more popular than the bulkier Fold models) and is available in the only 8 GB ram and 256 GB storage version at an inclusive price in the main European countries of between €1049.99 and €1119.99.

Although different, bundles are active in each country for the launch phase, including discounts, additional warranties in the event of accidental screen damage, and the opportunity to secure the Oppo Watch Free, Band 2 or Enco X2 earphones together with the smartphone for an additional 10 or 20 euros.