Oppo Find N long-term review

Camera app issues

The Find N has a flagship-level camera system, which is not always a given on foldables. That got us excited to see what it could do, but before we get to samples, we need to mention a bug that we've encountered a lot. Around 40% of times, when switching to the telephoto lens, the camera app would just freeze for a good 2-5 seconds before it comes back to life. This was an annoying occurrence, especially as it's literally the only bug we've encountered on this phone throughout our time with it. Needless to say, it's easily fixable through an update, but so far, that hasn't come through.

Aside from that, the camera app has been fast and reliable, with no other issues. We won't go into its layout because it basically looks and works like every other camera app out there. The ergonomics are good, and you can quickly get to it by double-tapping either volume button - although this understandably doesn't work while media is playing.

Camera samples

Okay, now let's see what it can do. In broad daylight, the main 50 MP sensor produces very pleasant shots, with a lot of detail and contrast, good dynamic range, and practically zero noise. The images are sharp and do sometimes border on oversharpened, but they tread that line very carefully. White balance can be hit and miss in some scenarios, with things looking slightly colder on camera than in real life. Because the lens used here is pretty wide, the corners can get a tad soft sometimes.

Daytime samples from the main camera

As usual, we captured all images with HDR set to Auto and the AI scene recognition off. If you want mind-bending contrast and colors that amp up the saturation level to 11, then by all means, turn this on. We don't, so we didn't.

The ultrawide sadly misses on autofocus which means it's not capable of macro shots. Still, it's good for its main purpose. For an ultrawide, the detail levels in daytime shots are good, and while there is some noise creeping in, it's handled well, and you do get a lot of detail. Contrast and dynamic range are good without being either amazing or too much. If you pixel peep very carefully you might notice some slight purple fringing around the corners, though. Colors aren't overly saturated, which sometimes makes them look dull. See, this is why practically every phone maker out there pumps up the saturation - it simply looks better on screen.

Daytime samples from the ultrawide

The 2x zoom shots from the dedicated telephoto shooter come out very good during the day, with ample amounts of detail, just the right amount of sharpening, good contrast and dynamic range. There is some visible noise, but reducing that would have probably taken away some of the detail too, so this is the compromise we get. Again the colors can be dull in some shots, and white balance hasn't been exactly on point every single time either.

Daytime 2x zoom samples

When the light goes down, the main camera impresses, with plenty of detail and sharpness, good color saturation, and good dynamic range. Depending on ambient lighting conditions, while shooting in Auto mode, you may get a quick 'partial' automatic Night Mode, and you'll notice because if this triggers, then the shot takes marginally more to capture. It's still not too slow for most scenes, we'd wager.

Nighttime samples from the main camera

Switch to the manual Night Mode, and that's among the fastest we've seen recently, with under two seconds per capture in all but the darkest conditions. Then it's an extra 1-2 seconds for processing, during which time you can't capture another image but can safely move your phone (no need to stand still anymore).

The Night Mode images are absolutely stunning, among the best Night Mode shots we've ever seen. Compared to the Auto mode shots, they're brighter, have much-improved exposure, bring in more detail in the darker areas and restore highlights from the brighter ones to degrees that left us very impressed. Sometimes there's even an extra boost in saturation too, and the Night Mode images are also much sharper. While some may disagree and even feel like they're a bit too sharp, we'd say they are safely near that line, not having crossed it.

Night Mode samples from the main camera

The ultrawide struggles at night, as do most. The shots it captures have nice colors and good contrast, but they are noisy, all of the highlights are usually blown, and detail levels are lacking. You can still make out what's in these, so this definitely isn't among the worst ultrawides for nighttime capture, but it's definitely not among the best either.

Nighttime samples from the ultrawide

Turn on Night Mode, however, and things improve significantly, although you will need to spend a few seconds waiting for it to do its thing while keeping the phone still. It's worth it, however, since this results in images that are much better exposed, brighter, less noisy, and with improved color saturation. Highlights are restored too, though to nowhere near the same extent as for the main cam. So when possible, if you need to use the ultrawide at night, go for Night Mode - or just use the main camera, as even with Night Mode, the ultrawide's shots are not on par with those from the main sensor.

Night Mode samples from the ultrawide

The 2x zoom photos at night are digitally zoomed from the main camera, and predictably these aren't great as a consequence. They're not exactly bad either, so if you really have to zoom with the camera and can't zoom with your feet, as they say, then these shots are generally usable.

Nighttime 2x zoom samples

If you go with Night Mode for 2x zoom shots at night, you generally get results cropped from the main sensor through the 'magic' of digital zoom, but not always. Weirdly enough, sometimes (but rarely), the actual telephoto lens is being used, and you'll know when this happens by looking at the results - they're sharper, brighter, and more colorful, but still far from great. They also have fewer blown highlights remaining. And yet - this is the one camera for which we generally preferred the Auto mode shots to the Night Mode ones. Night Mode on these zoomed images has a tendency to go overboard, turning everything into an oil painting.

Night Mode 2x zoom samples

Selfies are handled either by the two identical cameras embedded via hole-punch in both the inner and outer screens, or you can even use the main camera array for selfies if the phone is opened - in that case, you'll see the preview on the outer display, and this is, unfortunately, the only way to use that when the phone is opened. Selfies captured with the rear camera are as good as any other shots taken with it - see above for details.

If you use the 'dedicated' selfie snappers, the results are identical between them because the hardware is too. So, in this scenario, you get nice looking shots during the day, with accurate colors, great contrast and dynamic range, but average detail levels and not amazing sharpness.

Selfie samples, day and night, Portrait mode off/on

Portrait mode selfies come out with decently looking blur and adequate subject separation. At night, things go downhill if there aren't many light sources around you and you don't use the screen flash function - which you should if you can, it greatly improves the quality of how your face looks, at the expense of lower background detail and more background noise. Then again, the alternative is having noise everywhere if you don't use the screen flash. Of course, the best quality selfies will come from the main camera (with or without flash), but we wanted you to see what you can expect from the dedicated shooters, too.

Overall, the Find N does deliver a flagship camera experience, but aside from the main sensor, not really quite on par with the best of the best.