Competition results in various benefits including decreased pricing, increased innovation and having rival firms up their game to the benefit of the consumer. This is why we were excited to have a third flip one enter the mobility arena to battle compete for the hearts and wallets of consumers. That new challenger in this instance is OPPO’s Find N2 Flip which looks to pull customers away from the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 4 and HUAWEI’s P50 Pocket which all cost a pretty penny – but that goes with being on the edge of innovation by opting for a foldable smartphone.
This stylish number measures 166.2 x 75.2 x 7.45 mm (unfolded) at which point it looks like a conventional candy bar smartphone but you can flip it into a more skinny jeans-friendly 85.5 x 75.2 x 16.02 mm. In either mode it will tip the smartphone scales at a manageable 191g. In terms of design some other elements we really likes was the fact that when it is folded, there no visible screen gap on either edge where dust or any type of debris could get underneath to possibly damage the folding display. Furthermore, the folding mechanism feels reassuringly smooth, seamless, yet reassuringly weighty.
Unfolded the screen measures a content-consumption-friendly 6.8” and boasts plenty of detail thanks to its FHD+(2520×1080) resolution and very smooth as a result of it having a 120Hz refresh rate (LTPO variable-frequency display that can drop down to 1Hz). This makes it fantastic to play mobile games on or view movies or series on the go. Additionally, users will appreciate the fact that the screen crease is minimal and actually difficult to see when the screen is on.
Where the Find N2 Flip distinguishes itself from the competition is with the size of its outer display or cover screen which measures 3.26” with the Galaxy Z Flip for instance measuring 1.9″ and the P50 Pocket even smaller than that. This makes it infinitely more usable with the display when it comes to employing widgets and taking snaps using the cover screen as a viewfinder. It sports a resolution of 720×382 and a refresh rate of 60Hz (can go down to 30Hz).
OPPO also managed to one-up its rivals in the area of battery size and charging speed. It packs in a 4300 mAh battery which trumps the Z Flip at 3700 may and P50 Pocket’s at 3900 mAh respectively. Battery life for power users and those looking to see if those 400 000 unfolding and folding manufacturer rating can be matched in a lifetime of use, will still not be ideal as they will need to top up before the end of the day, but they can do so at pace thanks to the 44W SUPERVOOCT fast-charging.
Speaking of fast, the performance of the device is kept brisk and smooth thanks to its Dimensity 9000+ octa-core CPU that is paired with an Arm Mali-G710 MC10 GPU. The phone features 8 GB worth of snappy LPDDR5 RAM and 256 GB worth of suitably snappy SSD storage.
On the camera front, OPPO provides a 50 MP main camera as well as an 8 MP ultra-wide camera, which takes nice punchy photos in good lighting conditions and is suitably capable in bad lighting conditions. On the front, there is a 32MP selfie/groupie shooter that takes nice pics but is somehow limited to 1080p video while the rear shooter can do 4K 30 fps and full HD video recording at 60 fps. Overall though, the Find N2 is a capable shooter able to match the Galaxy Z Flip 4 for camera performance, but the P50 Pocket is still the champ in the flip phone arena.
Ultimately, this is one flipping good-looking, well-built, and highly capable foldable smartphone that trumps its rivals in a number of key areas like battery size, charging speed and convenience, and cover screen usefulness and bragging rights. The P50 Pocket is still the camera champ though and has more flashy looks in premium gold guise, but you will be compromised in terms of Google services if you don’t like workarounds and tinkering, and does not have 5G connectivity. This is the leading contender in our books and goes for R29 000, compared to R35 000 for the P50 Pocket Premium Gold 4G and R21 000 for the Galaxy Z Flip whose successor is usually revealed in August.
