Oppo is serious about the foldable phone market, even if it was a little later than the competition to the party. So serious - in fact - that it's finally launching one of its flexible smartphones outside of China.
The Oppo Find N2 Flip is launching in global markets, and it will be competing head-to-head with the popular Galaxy Z Flip 4. So can it steal Samsung's foldable crown, or will it flop?
Design and build
- Find N2 Flip: 166.2 x 75.2 x 7.5mm (open) - 85.5 x 75.2 x 16mm (shut)
- Z Flip 4: 165.2 x 71.9 x 6.9mm (open) - 84.9 x 71.9 x 15.9-17.1mm (shut)
- Find N2 Flip: 191 grams - Glass and aluminium build
- Z Flip 4: 187 grams - Glass and aluminium build - IPX8 water resistance
What's interesting about the Find N2 Flip is that Oppo has found yet another design for a flexible clamshell phone, delivering a look which is quite different to what other manufacturers have offered. Specifically: the front cover looks unique.
That is - of course - primarily down to Oppo's decision to go with a vertical rectangle display on the front which takes up nearly all the vertical space. We'll speak more about the actual display in a bit, but it creates a unique appearance and one you'll not confuse with Samsung's in a hurry.
Samsung's phone has a much smaller horizontal display on the front, but otherwise, the two do share similarities.
The two phones are built with that same basic concept of having an aluminium frame around the outside and a hinge halfway up that allows the phone to fold in half.
Oppo's phone is wider than the Samsung phone and slightly thicker when open, and slightly taller. However, due to the hinge design, the Oppo closes almost completely flush and so doesn't have a gap near the hinge or the tapering thickness when shut. It also doesn't have as clear a crease in the actual main display.
Oppo's slightly larger size does come with benefits, even if the phone is a little less compact than the Z Flip 4: It's got a bigger battery and a better aspect ratio display inside.
Both are very similar weights, however, but Samsung's does have the advantage of being IPX8-rated against water ingress. Oppo's doesn't have an official water resistance rating, so if having a device that's likely to survive rain and daily moisture is important to you, there's only one choice here really.
The other thing worth considering from a design perspective is colours. Oppo is launching the Find N2 Flip in just two colours outside of China: black or purple. Samsung has leveraged the Flip's cute looks and aesthetic appeal and has launched it in cream, black, green and lavender but also has a bespoke customisation tool that lets you choose from a number of different colour options, allowing a huge number of possible combinations.
Cover/exterior display
- Find N2 Flip: 3.26-inch - 382 x 720 AMOLED
- Z Flip 4: 1.9-inch - 260 x 512 AMOLED
As well as providing a visual distinction on the front of the phone, the Oppo's cover display offers a very different experience to the Samsung's. Where the Z Flip 4's cover display offers small widgets for useful information, the Find N2 Flip is - essentially - a miniaturised vertical smartphone screen.
At 3.26-inches diagonally it's much bigger than the Galaxy's 1.9-inch panel, and this means that when you're taking selfies of filming yourself, you get a virtually crop-free view of yourself and can better frame yourself.
It's also better for viewing your calendar appointments for the day as well as giving you a host of other basic functions that you can perform without opening the phone. Whether that be replying to messages, checking the weather or checking waiting notifications. It simply fits more data on it. You can also use it for quickly replying to messages without having to open the phone, perfect for those times when you're in a hurry.
Samsung's display is more for quickly checking the weather, your calendar and seeing if you have notifications, but it's not a great size for actually interacting with; for most tasks, you'll always be better off using the internal screen.
Internal folding display
- Find N2 Flip: 6.8-inch - 1080 x 2520 - 21:9 AMOLED display
- Z Flip 4: 6.7-inch - 1080 x 2640 - 22:9 AMOLED display
- Find N2 Flip: 120Hz - HDR10+ - 1600 nits peak
- Z Flip 4: 120Hz - HDR10+ - 1200 nits peak
Both phones have quite a long narrow display on the inside, but with its 21:9 ratio 6.8-inch screen, Oppo's is larger and features a more conventional aspect ratio. It's still a little narrower than most standard smartphones, but Samsung's is even narrower still at 22:9.
As far as other specs go, they're remarkably similar. Both feature a fullHD+ resolution panel - albeit slightly different due to the aforementioned ratios. They're both flexible AMOLED screens and both can reach up to 120Hz refresh rates when needed.
Oppo's is the brighter of the two with a peak brightness of 1600 nits, although, at 1200 nits peak, the Samsung is still certainly bright enough to be perfectly visible in most conditions. They're both compatible with HDR10+ content too.
As mentioned, the Oppo display folds in a way that makes the crease on the inside a lot less visible, and that could mean a better visual experience overall. However, we'll need to test both side-by-side to say for sure.
Power and battery life
- Find N2 Flip: MediaTek Dimensity 9000+
- Z Flip 4: Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
- Find N2 Flip: 4300mAh battery - 44W SuperVOOC wired charging
- Z Flip 4: 3700mAh battery - 25W wired charging - 15W wireless charging
Internally, both phones are equipped with high-end chipsets, although - unlike the book-style Find N2 - Oppo partnered with MediaTek for the clamshell model. It's got the MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ processor inside, which should provide fast and fluid levels of performance.
Samsung went with the tried and true flagship Snapdragon chipset, specifically, it's powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, which delivers top-tier performance without the phone overheating or using too much battery.
As far as batteries go, Oppo has managed something quite impressive here. It's got a 4300mAh battery which is rather large for a phone of this size, it's considerably more than the 3700mAh cell inside the Galaxy Z Flip 4, and almost as much as what Samsung has in its much bigger foldable: the Galaxy Z Fold 4.
What's more, with its 44W SuperVOOC charging, it can refill much quicker than Samsung's 25W charging abilities too. However, Samsung has the option for wireless charging in the Z Flip 4. You don't get that convenience with the Oppo phone.
As far as storage variants go, there are a few for each phone. Which you get will likely depend on the region you buy it in. Oppo's comes in 8GB/256GB, 12GB/256GB and 16GB/512GB versions in China where it's launched. Samsung's also has 128GB, 256GB and 512GB models, but each comes with the same 8GB RAM.
Cameras
- Find N2 Flip: 50MP f/1.8 primary camera, 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera
- Z Flip 4: 12MP f/1.8 primary camera, 12MP f/2.2 ultrawide camera
- Find N2 Flip: 4K/30fps - FHD/60fps
- Z Flip 4: 4K/60fps - FHD/240fps slow-mo
- Find N2 Flip: 32MP selfie camera
- Z Flip 4: 10MP selfie camera
The two devices take a similar approach to cameras. That's to say they both have a primary and ultrawide camera, although the exact makeup of those cameras is different.
Samsung went for a consistent approach and stuck two 12-megapixel sensors in its two main cameras on the front, and offers up to 4K resolution recording at 60 frames per second, or 1080p resolution up to 240 frames per second for super slow-mo recording.
Oppo has a big 50-megapixel sensor from Sony in its primary camera and a lower resolution 8-megapixel sensor in the ultrawide. Oppo has partnered with Hasselblad for its colour processing, and that shows in the camera app too. On the video side, it maxes out at 4K resolution at 30 frames per second and 1080p at 60 frames per second. For those who care about video, then, Samsung will offer a better experience.
As for selfie cameras, Oppo has squeezed a 32-megapixel sensor into its own punch-hole camera, whereas Samsung went with a lower resolution 10-megapixel.
Price
- Find N2 Flip: £849
- Z Flip 4: £999
The interesting thing about pricing is that - now that Samsung's phone has been around for half a year - you can probably find it at a cheaper price than it was at launch, meaning: not a huge difference between Oppo and Samsung's efforts.
The Z Flip launched with a price near-enough £1000 when it first hit the market in 2022, where the Oppo phone is landing at around £849, undercutting the Galaxy Z Flip a little. Still, by the time you've spread that cost over monthly payments, there's really not much in it.
Conclusion
The biggest draw for the Oppo flip phone - we think - will be its cover display. It's a completely different approach to exterior displays offered by competitors and will allow full-screen selfies and videos vertically. It's also got a much bigger battery than the Samsung and - with Oppo's usual optimisations - that should mean much better battery life. It also charges much faster.
Samsung's does have a lot going for it, especially when it comes to its brand power. It's a much more familiar brand to buyers in Europe and other western markets. Plus, it's a brand that's become synonymous with flexible phones. Add that to the water-resistant design, the appeal of the bespoke colour choices and wireless charging and you have a very attractive device.