Chinese brand Oppo has lifted the lid on its latest flagship smartphone, the Oppo N1, at a dedicated launch event in Beijing. And it's the first smartphone to introduce a rotational unit.

In a world full of large-screen smartphones it's all too easy for single-handed use to cause issues when reaching over the screen. Oppo hasn't shied away from the big screen, opting for a 5.9-inch 1080p panel in the N1. But its new solution? A rear touch control panel, called "O-Touch", where it's possible to use finger gestures on the phone's rear to perform actions.

There's also a brand new operating system, dubbed ColorOS, which is built around Android but introduces multi-touch gestures. Three finger swipes to take screen snapshots, for example, or to quickly dive into camera operation in little time. And, as the name suggests, it's a colourful interface complete with live weather wallpapers and bright app icons.

And speaking of the camera, that's where the N1 delivers one of its key features. No more front and rear-facing lenses: the N1 has just the one 13-megapixel unit mounted at the top that can rotate through 206-degrees. Any more and the phone would be in the shot itself. It comes complete with a flash and soft light for selfies or other lit scenes and is said to activate in just 0.6-seconds.

Add 2GB RAM, 1.7Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad core processor, an Adreno 320 GPU, 3610mAh battery and the N1 proves its flagship worth.

Oppo might not necessarily be on your radar yet, but the Chinese brand is doing its own thing and keeping it interesting. Can the N1 make an impact in the West in among so many established big players, such as the HTC One, Sony Xperia Z1 and Samsung Galaxy S4? Pocket-lint is at the event in Beijing where we'll be battling our way through the crowds to take a look at the device and bring you our first thoughts.

The Oppo N1 will be on sale in October in China, December in the UK. There's no word on a UK price as yet but the Chinese price of 3,498 yuan would translate to around £360 in the UK. Got your attention now?