OPPO Find N6 - Meet the New Leader In Foldable Flagships

Over the last year I've been able to trial quite a selection of folding phones that for the first time, really feel like polished, fully finished products - rather than the next step in something experimental that may or may not actually be going somewhere.

Suddenly there's a more solid, reliable feel to these handsets. That's important, given their wincingly high price tags.

The operating systems, generally, seem to have evolved into something more useful for the form-factor too. After all, is there any real point in having a screen twice the width if it doesn't offer anything more than what a standard sized display does?

Then there's the crease.

Something we've just come to expect from folding screens. Yes, the crease has been getting less and less noticeable but if you're going to bend a phone in half, surely there's only so much you can do.

Apparently, OPPO disagrees.

Yep, they've actually done it. Open the OPPO Find N6 and you'll discover the new Seamless View Display. I knew OPPO was claiming this was a thing. I'd heard other people talk about it. I'd even seen people demonstrate it. And yet, I still didn't believe it.

Then I saw it - and even more importantly - FELT it for myself. No crease. Barely the tiniest evidence of some kind of line if you hold the Find N6 up to a bright light in just the right way but that's it. A completely flat foldable. Who'd have thought it?

This miracle is achieved using what OPPO describes as Auto-Smoothing Flex Glass - literally 3D scanning each Titanium Flexion Hinge on every phone to then 3D print the corresponding smoothing system, unique to that phone and that phone alone.

Some poor robot has been tasked with folding and unfolding these things up to a million times and as a result, the Find N6 is certified to stay flat for at least 600,000 folds. Truly pioneering tech.

But the best thing about the Find N6 is OPPO wasn't just content to do the world's flattest folding screen and leave it at that. This is a true flagship phone in every other way too.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 mobile platform is the engine driving everything - from AI photo editing to triple-A gaming. The latest iteration of ColorOS is a UI truly deserving of the 8.12-inch internal display, letting you open 3 or 4 apps simultaneously with a simple gesture - finally delivering on the productivity boost devices like this have been promising since their inception.

Another tool to help boost the Find N6's usefulness even further is the optional OPPO AI Pen - a feature-packed bluetooth stylus that charges wirelessly via its rear cover case. Not only is this a precise writing and sketching accessory, thanks to its smart button it can also be used as a media controller or even a laser pointer.

There is a downside; the rear cover the OPPO AI Pen slots into is too thick for the handset to charge through on a wireless pad. And that case is also really tricky to get off once you click it into place. So you pretty much have to choose between the convenience of wireless charging or the usefulness of a bluetooth stylus.

This is emblematic of OPPO's historically reluctant attitude around wireless charging. OPPO phones have always been about the fastest charging around, thanks to the awesome power of wired SuperVOOC charging - it's been that way for many years now.

Unfortunately, this determination to focus on fast wired charging has meant many OPPO handsets don't offer wireless charging at all - and now we've got this weird situation with the AI Pen case. There's also a more generic, two-piece cover included in the Find N6 box. Thankfully, this is much thinner and doesn't prevent wireless charging getting through.

The really weird part is, with the right AirVOOC charger, the Find N6 will actually charge wirelessly at up to 50W - faster than any other device I've ever reviewed.

Fast charging is helpful, because we're talking some serious battery here; 6000mAh. This is yet another area where OPPO has seen the opposition produce under-powered foldables with batteries that may or may not last out a whole day. Meanwhile, as I explain in the video below, I got several days use from my Find N6 on a single charge without even meaning to.

The other bizarre compromise to be found on early foldables is the camera setup. You'd think if you're asked to pay over three grand for a phone, you might expect it to take some of the best pictures and videos possible. That hasn't always been the case.

On the Find N6, it is the case.

The primary rear camera module, distinctive in its round housing and marked with a silver "H" for Hasselblad, sports a 200MP wide main camera, a 50MP ultra-wide, a 50MP periscope telephoto and a dedicated True Colour camera. This results in consistent, real-life colour, detail and lighting across all focal lengths - including distance shots and extreme closeups.

I've raved on and on about how good OPPO's phone cameras are before - especially since collaborating with Hasselblad - the camera name famous for bringing us images of the original moon landings. The results from this generation certainly don't disappoint, complete with 20MP selfie-cams on both outer and inner screens too.

We've talked a lot about that magical, folding display but the 6.62-inch external display definitely deserves a mention as well. For a book-style foldable, the Find N6 is remarkably light and thin - even more so than some more conventional, unfoldy flagships. The aspect ratio when folded is less tall and skinny than many other, similar devices and I think this goes a long way to why I feel so comfortable using it as my every day handset. The cover display features a 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate, it gets incredibly bright when it needs to and the wider aspect ratio leaves plenty of room for apps and widgets on my home screen.

The only downside is OPPO's insistence on installing factory-fitted screen protectors - which are usually far more prone to damage and scratches than the screen they're purportedly protecting. I've certainly found that to be the case on this phone, somehow scratching it just by placing it face down on my work desk yesterday morning. I'm fairly certain if I peeled this "protector" off, the ceramic guard on the display proper would prove much more scratch resistant, which has certainly been my experience with most high-end phones for the last few years. I mean, thanks for the free screen protector, OPPO. But you shouldn't have. Really.

Note: Don't go trying to peel anything off that inner screen - any layers there are integral to its functionality.

Not that this phone feels delicate in any way - which is another reason I feel comfortable casually dropping it in my pocket - and even dropping it out of my pocket and onto my hard wooden floor. Twice. So far. With no damage whatsoever. It also carries IP57, IP58 and IP59 ratings against water and dust. 

Whether you go for Stellar Titanium or Blossom Orange, it's a special phone. However, that doesn't mean you have to give it special treatment. Which is ultimately what I love about the Find N6. It's probably the most advanced collection of mobile phone technology ever built into a single device - and yet I'm not afraid to use it.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the OPPO Find N6.