Oppo Find N review

Introduction

Ever thought of a foldable iPad mini that folds into an iPhone mini? Well, you can't have that. But the closest thing possible might be Oppo's first foldable - the Oppo Find N.

The Find series has always been about disruptive innovation, and the foldable Find N is yet another attempt at that. The Find N takes a different approach towards two of the most controversial aspects of the foldables - size and hinge.

The Find N is a compact smartphone, and, as we mentioned, it is best described as a foldable mini tablet that folds into a mini smartphone. It is built around a 7.1-inch Samsung-made foldable LTPO AMOLED display with a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate. Oppo's proprietary Flexion hinge allows for gapless design in folded mode and a crease-free experience when unfolded.

The cover screen is a 5.49-inch AMOLED with minimal bezels. This one has a fixed refresh rate of 60hz, though. Both the cover and the foldable screens are perforated where their respective selfie cameras are.

And speaking of cameras, the Find N has three high-end snappers on the back for a versatile imaging experience. The primary shooter is 50MP with OIS and omnidirectional PDAF, followed by a 13MP telephoto for 2x optical zoom and a 16MP ultrawide snapper. These three sit on a beautiful ceramic piece.

The Find N employs the Snapdragon 888 5G chip within its eye-catchy glass body. There is plenty of RAM and storage, too. The SoC allows for all modern connectivity options and supports Dual SIM. If the Find N gets an international release, you bet it will cover the needed network bands.

Now, let's take a look at the complete specs sheet.

Oppo Find N specs at a glance:

• Body: 132.6x140.2x8.0mm, 275g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus) - folded, plastic front - unfolded, glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus), aluminum frame.
• Display: 7.10" Foldable LTPO AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR10+, 500 nits (typ), 800 nits (HBM), 1000 nits (peak), 1792x1920px resolution, 9.64:9 aspect ratio, 370ppi; Cover display:, AMOLED, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, 5.49 inches, 988 x 1972 pixels, 18:9 ratio.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G (5 nm): Octa-core (1x2.84 GHz Kryo 680 & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 680 & 4x1.80 GHz Kryo 680); Adreno 660.
• Memory: 256GB 8GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
• OS/Software: Android 11, ColorOS 12.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.8, 24mm, 1/1.56", 1.0µm, omnidirectional PDAF, OIS; Telephoto: 13 MP, f/2.4, 52mm, 1/3.4", 1.0µm, 2x optical zoom, PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 16 MP, f/2.2, 14mm, 123˚, 1/3.09", 1.0µm.
• Front camera: Wide (main): 32 MP, f/2.4, 26mm, 1/2.74", 0.8µm; Cover camera: 32 MP, f/2.4, 26mm, 1/2.74", 0.8µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, gyro-EIS, HDR; Front camera: 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS.
• Battery: 4500mAh; Fast charging 33W, 55% in 30 min, 100% in 70 min (advertised), Fast wireless charging 15W, Reverse charging 10W.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); NFC.

The foldable form factor hasn't reached perfection just yet, and there are a couple of obvious pain points. It's a tough job to make a fordable phone water-resistant. It's not impossible as Samsung did it this year, yet it is surely costly on both design and budget. Plus, no one can make those dust and particle-resistant - enemies of the foldable design with gaps, hinges and whatnot.

We aren't fans of the internal selfie cameras, though we do see the necessity of such. And no, the under-screen camera is not there yet, once again - as evident by the Samsung's most recent Fold3.

Enough with the teasing, let's get this show on the road.

Unboxing the Oppo Find N

The top-tier Find series have always come packed within premium-looking retail boxes, and the latest Find N is no different. The moment we picked up that large black Oppo box, we knew we had a flagship device in our hands.

The box is thin but large, and that's because the Find N ships unfolded just like the Galaxy Fold 3. It's packed in protective wrapping so that's fine.

Inside that large box, you will find the basic accessories - a 33W power adapter and a USB cable. Unlike previous Oppo flagships, this bundle has no headphones and no case. We know this is enough, but if you've grown accustomed to Oppo's premium treatment, you may end up disappointed.

The Oppo Find N has thin plastic films on both the cover and the foldable screens. You can get rid of the cover display's protector, but you should not peel off the internal film - this will allegedly ruin the foldable screen and is (probably) not covered by the warranty.