OPPO Find N2 Foldable Phone Review: A Design You Can Fit in Your Palm

Given their marketing strength, you’d think Samsung and perhaps Huawei are the only ones making foldable phones with a bit of Motorola on the side. Of course, there are now a few more players in that arena, especially when you turn your attention to the East. It’s a relatively emerging market compared to the larger smartphone industry, which means there’s a lot of room for improvement and also plenty of temptations to just go with the flow. There are still many unanswered questions about the design of foldable phones, from the reliability of their hinges to their purpose for existence, but these doubts have never stopped companies from attempting to innovate and seek answers. OPPO seems to have done quite a bit of work for the first, second-gen “horizontal” foldable, so we’re getting our hands on the OPPO Find N2 to check out how much has improved and how much hasn’t changed.

Designer: OPPO

Aesthetic

When you see a foldable phone, it’s almost too easy to think you’ve seen it all already. After all, there are simply so many ways to fold a device, given the limitations of today’s technologies. However, from the very beginning, the OPPO Find N broke the trend to show off a slightly different way of designing a large, horizontally foldable phone, and the Find N2 iterates that design almost to perfection.

Unlike the rest of Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, Honor and Vivo, the OPPO Find N2 retains the more familiar aspect ratios and shapes of phones and tablets. When folded, the “phone” isn’t an oddly long and narrow piece of display that makes it hard to even peck a few words on it. When the “tablet” is turned on, it is closer to the horizontal or horizontal aspect ratio that is more typical for these slabs. This means you won’t have to constantly rotate the phone after turning it on to watch videos properly or take advantage of the split screen functionality.

While that basic format remains the same, OPPO’s second foldable phone changes things up in subtle but meaningful ways. You may not even realize how thin it is compared to its predecessor, but it does make the device more manageable in your hand. You’ll appreciate how light it is, however, which isn’t exactly surprising given how small it is compared to most foldables of its kind. OPPO has also made significant improvements to both the look and feel of the device, starting with the anodized metal bezel that tastefully matches and accentuates the color of the phone. The back material has also been changed from glossy glass to a matte texture, which helps a lot with grip. There’s even a vegan leather version that your fingers will enjoy while making the phone look stylish.

The OPPO Find N2 is undoubtedly a beauty to behold from any angle or angle, especially thanks to its completely flat fold and the almost invisible crease in the fold. One design aspect that might be a bit divisive is the camera bump, something inherited from the first Find N. A bit like the gorgeous OPPO Find X5 Pro, this protrusion slopes slightly upwards. However, unlike this award-winning design, there is a clear boundary around the camera island that creates a sudden stop in eye movement. Admittedly, it’s a minor detail that others might find really enjoyable, especially compared to the foldable or otherwise more obnoxious camera bumps on other phones.

ergonomics

The driving force behind OPPO’s decision to stay away from the usual foldable design path is ease of use rather than mere technological introduction. Its smaller size and more familiar aspect ratios make it easy to hold and use, even with one hand; this is something rarely seen on regular phones these days. While it may seem like you’re sacrificing screen size, what you’re actually getting is a more practical and ergonomic device that looks great and feels great in your hand.

OPPO’s “waterdrop” hinge design has always made it possible for the phone to close completely flat, meaning it takes up less space and is effectively thinner when folded. The OPPO Find N2 further optimizes this design, mostly by improving materials and reducing the number of parts needed in the Flexible Hinge, making the device thinner and more importantly lighter. All this results in a device that is comfortable to use and less strain on your hands and arms. Considering how much pleasure you’ll get from using it for hours on end, this is a pretty significant quality of life improvement.

At the same time, OPPO has also taken care to ensure that you can hold the phone better to avoid accidents. The switch to matte glass for the back adds some texture that helps your finger grip the device better. But if you’re still afraid of your clumsiness, OPPO generously includes a two-piece protective case in the box that matches the color of the phone for added peace of mind. It’s the typical silicone case though, so it takes some away from the phone’s sleek beauty.

One of the biggest improvements in OPPO Find N2 is something you can’t see. The company’s second-generation Flexion Hinge has improved durability thanks to the use of new materials such as carbon fiber and high-strength alloy. It also has 38 fewer parts than the previous generation hinge and offers improved rigidity and reliability. For example, it can now stay open at any angle between 45 and 125 degrees. This is one of the reasons why the Find N2 is lighter and more convenient without sacrificing its functionality.

Yield

The Find N2 isn’t inept when it comes to internal components either, but it’s a little late to carry the latest mobile processor. That said, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is well-suited to handling anything you can throw at it, especially when you consider the 12 or 16GB memory available to you. There really isn’t much to complain about in terms of raw power, and whether you’re watching the latest streaming shows, playing your favorite mobile games, or even being productive at work tasks, the phone will serve you well.

Both screens on the OPPO Find N2 are top-notch and not just because of their aspect ratio. The external 5.54-inch 2120×1080 AMOLED display is bright and vibrant, and its 120Hz refresh rate is even suitable for gaming. The main star, of course, is the built-in 7.1-inch 1920×1792 AMOLED LTPO display, which can turn the refresh rate to 1 Hz to conserve battery. This flexible display is as pretty and colorful as any of the others, but more importantly, the crease that separates it into two areas is barely visible from any angle. Your finger won’t be able to tell it’s there either, which is far from the drop that even the Galaxy Z Fold 4 still has at this point.

One of the problems with most foldable phones is that they don’t have much room to fit large cameras inside. It’s no surprise then that the OPPO Find N2 set doesn’t match up with some of the latest flagships on the market. That said, it’s actually not bad at all, despite what the specs page suggests. It certainly helps the famous Hasselblad fine-tune the photography experience, especially through software and filters. MariSilicon X, OPPO’s dedicated imaging NPU, also deserves praise for the performance of the cameras, especially when it comes to 4K content.

The 50MP camera alone produces excellent photos even in low light conditions. The ultra-wide camera has a decent 48MP sensor, so while there are obvious signs of lens distortion around the edges, you’re not actually sacrificing quality by switching to a more panoramic shot. The 32MP sensor in the telephoto camera is just as impressive, something you wouldn’t expect in close-ups. The 32MP front cameras, both inside and out, are also good and won’t let you down when it comes to selfies and video calls.

Find N2 runs ColorOS 13 of OPPO’s Android 13, which offers a beautiful and fluid interface as well as many options to customize your experience. What sets this version apart are gestures designed to make it easier to take advantage of the form factor, especially in “splitting” the screen between two apps. However, OPPO could only do so much to push Android apps to behave well in this context. You’ll find that some apps still don’t work well with foldable phones, but that’s more of a flaw of the platform than of the hardware.

Sustainability

While OPPO is breaking ground when it comes to innovating in foldable phones, it’s not on track to change the narrative about sustainability. There are always small steps forward like using recycled paper or reducing packaging size, but while phones themselves are mostly beautiful, they remain harmful products of human ingenuity and creativity. OPPO has also yet to bypass the slow-growing trend of making its phones more easily repairable by third parties or even owners, but the complexity of a foldable phone already makes it off the beaten track.

The OPPO Find N2 at least slightly improves the reliability of the phone so that it does not find itself in repair shops too soon. The reduction in the number of parts that make up the new hinge means that the parts that are likely to break are also reduced. Increasing the overall durability of the phone may not be a huge sustainability gain, but it at least helps extend a product’s lifespan and delay its arrival in landfills.

One of the three colors available for the Find N2 also uses vegan leather to offer a luxurious aesthetic that does not harm the environment, especially animals. However, vegan leather is also somewhat controversial as to how it somehow became a marketing fad. However, when applied properly, it is a more viable alternative to other unsustainable materials that make a phone look flashy.

Value

The first foldable OPPO phone has challenged the status quo of this niche market with a design that has proven to be another way of doing things. The OPPO Find N2, then, is an refinement of the design that smoothes out the rough edges to deliver a product that’s nearly perfect, at least for its intended purposes. Stylish and useful, the Find N2 offers a foldable device that feels like a finished product rather than an expensive prototype. Its design is clearly informed of the need to have something comfortable, useful and aesthetic rather than just showcasing technical and engineering innovations.

Despite all its strengths, the OPPO Find N2 has one critical flaw that makes all of the above almost controversial and academic. It won’t be available anywhere outside of China, at least in the near future. And while you can buy it from third-party vendors, the software experience can be so different that it can spoil the enjoyment of the device. Fortunately, OPPO has not closed the door to the possibility of a global launch, but is taking a wait-and-see approach to gauge market interest.

Decision

Many people still doubt that foldable phones with both larger and clamshell designs are the future of mobile phones, but it’s hard to deny that they will play a big role in their development. As components become more accessible, more companies will make such devices to the point where they will become commonplace. But for now, few people dare to step into this market and even fewer who dare to be different.

The OPPO Find N2 is clearly a rare breed, not only because it’s much smaller, but also because of its focus. While all phone brands will naturally claim to design for usability, OPPO takes this mission seriously. The result is an elegant, pleasant and practical foldable device that, like its non-foldable brethren, fits seamlessly into everyday life.