Oppo Find N2 Flip comes to Singapore to dethrone other clamshell foldables
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Oppo Find N2 Flip comes to Singapore to dethrone other clamshell foldables
Note: This feature was first published on 2 March 2023.
You’ve already heard of the Oppo Find N2 Flip a few times. If you haven’t, here’s the quick down-low.
Oppo Find N2 Flip in Singapore
Oppo’s Find N2 Flip is a follow-up to the company’s foldable phone efforts. Its Find N foldable came first to China in 2021, with a book-style fold similar to Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 5G. Then, in late 2022, Oppo launched not one but two of such devices – by following up with a Find N2 and a new Find N2 Flip clamshell-styled foldable phone (again, similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 5G). At this point, these launches were primarily exclusive to the China market, with limited availability elsewhere.
Fast forward to early 2023, and Oppo decided to bring the Find N2 Flip to the international market, partnering with the UEFA Champions League to push its foldable handset to the masses. Shortly after, Oppo said they intend to bring the Find N2 Flip to Singapore by March 2023, bringing us to date.
In a Singapore-only Q&A media session, Oppo said that the Find N2 Flip's entrance to our market is indicative of consumers being more accepting of foldable formats, aided by the lowering price points of such devices (relative to the early days of such handsets).
@hwztech Trying to flip to my good side #lifewithnocrease #oppofindn2flip @OPPO Singapore ♬ FEEL THE GROOVE - Queens Road, Fabian Graetz
Now that we’ve unfolded Oppo’s history with foldables, we look at what makes the Oppo Find N2 Flip different or better from what we’ve seen before.
Clamshell foldable and all its perks
Like the other popular clamshell phone with a foldable display, the Find N2 Flip has a conventional Main Display that’s kept away when folded, along with a secondary Cover Screen on the outside for notifications, assisted photography, and style points.
According to Oppo, its focus on features isn't targeted at any specific foldable phone brand. The company chose to invest based on what it thinks consumers want (market response). That said, we'll make a few comparisons to the Galaxy Z Flip4 5G since it's one of the more prominent foldable examples in the Singapore market.
A key difference is the latter’s size – Find N2 Flip’s Cover Screen is 3.26-inch AMOLED panel with a 720 x 382 pixels resolution and 60Hz refresh rate. This is larger than the Galaxy Z Flip4’s Cover Screen (at 1.9 inches) but has a lower pixel density than Samsung’s version (253 PPI on the N2 Flip versus 302 PPI on the Z Flip4).
The larger Cover Screen size has the perks you would expect from more real estate: it lets you preview your selfies like a camera’s viewfinder, shows up to six notifications (instead of just a few), lets you use Quick Reply to send preset phrases on popular messaging apps (WhatsApp, FB Messenger, Slack, Telegram, Line), has customisable widgets, and offers an always-on display (AOD) for your date and time.
Find N2 Flip’s Main Display is a 6.8-inch E6 AMOLED with FHD+ resolution (2,520 x 1,080 pixels) rated with 1,600-nits brightness, and 120Hz maximum refresh rate that can go as low as 1Hz for power savings.
Oppo claimed that Find N2 Flip’s Main Display has “the smallest crease” (we assume that meant the least noticeable crease) for a clamshell flip phone. It’s also rated at 216,000 folds until degradation via TÜV Rheinland lab tests. That’s almost six years’ worth of folding and unfolding if we assume you fold 100 times daily.
Oppo credits the 63% crease reduction to the Find N2 Flip’s hinge (called New Generation Flexion Hinge). While it’s also dust-resistant (to prevent clogging), it’s worth noting that Find N2 Flip isn’t IP-rated for water or dust resistance, while Galaxy Z Flip4 5G has IPX8 (IP ratings are numbered to show resistance against dust first, followed by water).
Selfies don't have to be selfie-ish
Naturally, this clamshell form factor emphasises selfie-taking. The dual rear camera setup (next to the Cover Screen) is a 50MP main camera (Sony IMX890, f/1.8 aperture), with all the sensor pixels used for AutoFocus and no OIS. Next to it is an 8MP ultra-wide camera (Sony IMX355, f/2.2) with a 112° field-of-view for wefies and wider shots. Unfold, and it’s a 32MP “front” camera (Sony IMX709) for video calls and, again, more selfies.
Doubling down on that selfie dominance are its controls (which include having the volume button act as a shutter button when folded, front-and-back dual previewing when unfolded, and a half-fold camcorder-like recording feature).
Also building upon its imaging experience is an added Marisilicon X Imaging NPU Oppo uses for its flagship Find X series devices for extra image processing and AI computational photography. Together, you get better 4K night video recording, and 4K HDR recording. Also added are HNCS-certified, 10-bit RAW shooting via Hasselblad Professional Mode, and an XPAN filter by Hasselblad for film-like aesthetics.
The foldable offers a 4,300mAh battery, 44W SuperVOOC fast-charging (Oppo’s proprietary charging technology). It also has all the core components to qualify as a flagship phone – like having MediaTek’s Dimensity 9000+ processor, LPDDR5 RAM, UFS 3.1 storage, Dolby Atmos dual speakers, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, and of course – 5G connectivity. Oppo said that its choice of MediaTek was grounded in its decision of picking a market-proven processor, versus choosing a newer chipset that wasn't yet available during its China launch.
Pricing and pre-order details
The Oppo Find N2 Flip will carry an SRP of S$1,299 (8GB RAM, 256GB ROM), and available in two colours: Astral Black and Moonlit Purple. Pre-orders are from 3rd March 2023 till 10th March 2023, and retail sales will start from 11th March 2023. All pre-orders are entitled to a free pair of Oppo Enco Air 3 wireless earbuds (worth S$109) while stocks last.
You can pre-order the phone online through Amazon, Lazada, Shopee, iShopChangi, Challenger, Qoo10, and TikTok. You can also pre-order the phone at Oppo Concept Stores around Singapore.
