OPPO Find N2 Flip - Welcome to the Folding Party

As New Zealanders, there's nothing worse than feeling like we're missing out on cool stuff the rest of the world can get its hands on. To be fair, we probably punch above our weight when it comes to our reputation as being a nation of "early adopters."

And yet, until now we've only had access to one brand of foldable phone.

Admittedly, even globally, the smartphone market isn't exactly flooded with foldables, although if you live in China, you've been able to choose from a few different options for a couple of years.

Now one of those options has made its way here and it looks pretty impressive.

The Find N2 Flip is not OPPO's first attempt at a folding flagship - the Find N series launched in December 2021 with its larger, "book-style" handset - but we didn't get that one.

Then, when OPPO embraced the more pocketable "clamshell" form factor, it became apparent it was getting pretty serious about foldables. So serious in fact, this year OPPO is marketing the Find N2 Flip as its New Zealand flagship - if you were hoping for a local release of the Find X6 and Fnd X6 Pro this year, you're out of luck. This makes the Find N2 Flip Oppo's only premium offering for 2023, so it had better deliver. No pressure.

There's no avoiding the similarities between this device and a certain other Flip from a successful Korean manufacturer - that one's been around for about three years now and yes, I've tried each generation and I thought they were surprisingly useful.

But the Find N2 Flip differs in several subtle, yet significant ways - starting with its magical Flexion hinge. This allows the Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) screen to unfold with what OPPO describes as "an almost invisible crease." In reality, this is somewhat of an overstatement; depending on the light you can just make out the crease and you can just feel it - but only just. I never notice it at all when using the phone on a day-to-day basis. It's certainly the most crease-free experience I've enjoyed on any foldable device I've tried so far.

OPPO's unique Flexion hinge also means the phone folds together without any gap. This may sound like a small thing but one thing that's really peeved me with other foldable phones I've kept in my pocket is when I get them out and open them, invariably the internal screen is covered in dust and other pocket lint. That simply doesn't happen with the Find N2 Flip as there's no gap for such detritus to penetrate.

Another major win for the OPPO device is its external screen; a 60Hz display that measures in at 3.26-inches - big enough to be genuinely useful - not just a tiny notification window but an auto-rotating AMOLED display that gives you access to large, readable widgets (weather, calendar etc) and most importantly, lets you frame photos and videos at the same orientation you're shooting them in.

This is the big advantage of a foldable like this, of course; the ability to use the primary shooter as a selfie camera, thanks to that external screen. The Find N2 Flip lets you open the camera from that outer screen - you can shoot in Photo, Portrait or Video mode without even opening the phone.

Once you do "Flip" you'll have a full 6.8-inch, FHD+ display at your disposal, featuring a variable refresh rate from 120Hz right down to 1Hz to help preserve battery life. ColorOS 13.0 built on top of Android 13 gives you access to all the options and customisations available on any other OPPO flagship, including special features like Split Screen for multi-tasking, Flexible (floating) windows, Smart sidebar and Kid Space.

Interestingly (well, for me anyway) the Find N2 Flip is powered by the Dimensity 9000+ octa-core chip from MediaTek - not a Snapdragon as other recent OPPO flagships have contained. Although not quite the highest-specced phone brain available in 2023, it's not far behind and I've certainly had no complaints while using the Find N2 Flip. Everything is as fast and fluid as I would expect from any flagship - even when performing unique, foldable actions like swapping apps from an external widget to the full version inside.

The Find N2 Flip has a nice, big battery too; 4300mAh and you're not going to believe this, there's even a fast charger included in the box! How crazy is that? Just as well because there's no wireless charging option here which is a major mark down for me. I've seen this in the past from OPPO - they've always prioritised fast charging over wireless charging and although the last few Find X series handsets have offered my preferred wireless capability, for some reason they've taken a step backwards with the Flip. Boo.

Regardless, battery life is good and I've never had to worry about making it through a long, breakfast radio day.

My main issue with OPPO making the Find N2 Flip New Zealand's only high-end device for 2023 is camera performance. I'm sure you've noticed from the pictures there are only two sensors on the primary array which by my count is at least two less than most other big-name flagships. I have no issue with the performance of the 50MP wide shooter or the 122-degree, 8MP ultra-wide camera - OPPO's continued collaboration with Hasselblad ensures great picture quality - sharp, bright images with true-to-life colour tones.

The problem is, without a telephoto, macro, monochromatic or Time-of-Flight sensor there are things other phones can do that this one simply can't - perhaps most noticeably, decent optical zoom. I can safely say I've never used an OPPO phone that didn't have a great camera and make no mistake, the camera experience on the Find N2 Flip is indeed great - especially with the 32MP selfie shooter; lots of filter and touch-up options - but this phone is no match for the big advances in distance and low-light photography we've seen from other brands lately.

Video is still fun though, especially when using the device half-folded like a handycam - OPPO's latest digital stabilisation efforts are pretty effective too.

Price is the Find N2 Flip's other big selling point. Although at NZ$1679.00 it's only a few dollars cheaper than the entry-level version of "the other Flip," the OPPO has twice the storage, making it a bit of a bargain by comparison.

It comes in a fingerprint-free matte black (Astral Black to be precise) or you can opt for the glass-backed Moonlit Purple and there's even a clear, hard, two-piece cover included in the box. A cover and a charger included? It's like Christmas.

Without a full-featured camera and options like wireless charging, I'm not convinced this is a genuine, high-end flagship but it has most things people want in a phone and what's more, it'll fit in any pocket or purse. Just when you thought there was only one name in foldables in town, OPPO has definitely joined the party.

    

Click here for more information on the OPPO Find N2 Flip.