Content
- Video review
- Equipment and design
- Software
- cameras
- Performance and Benchmarks
- findings
The voice of Alexander Fur, of course. Thanks to the advent of folding screens in the world of smartphones, a revival has occurred – manufacturers began to think about how best to use them. Roll in or out? Vertically or horizontally? What size should the screens be? Manufacturers began to sort out form factors and sizes in search of the best option. One such experiment was OPPO Find N, the first foldable smartphone from a brand that has positioned itself as a source of innovation for many years. Despite the fact that OPPO Find N is not sold in Russia, we managed to get acquainted with it and we share our impressions.
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Specifications OPPO Find N |
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| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G | |
| Firmware | ColorOS 12 based on Android 11 | |
| Screen | External : 5.49″, AMOLED, 1972 x 988 pixels, 17.96:9, 402 ppi, 60Hz Internal : 7.1″, AMOLED, 8.4:9 / 9.64:9, 1920 x 1792 dots, 370 ppi, 120Hz |
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| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 , 5 nm CPU: 8 cores, 1 x X1 x 2.84GHz + 3 x A78 x 2.4GHz + 4 x A55 x 1.8GHz GPU: Adreno 660 |
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| RAM | 8 GB LPDDR5 |
12 GB LPDDR5 |
| ROM | 256 GB UVS 3.1 |
512 GB UVS 3.1 |
| SIM and memory card | Two nano SIM cards | |
| Camera | Triple Main : 50 MP, Sony IMX766, 1/1.56″, f/1.8, OIS, phase detection autofocus, 6 lenses, video recording 2160p@60fps Wide Angle : 16 MP, f/2.2, 123 degrees, 5 lenses, 2160p@30fps video recording Telephoto : 13 MP, f/2.4, 2x zoom, 45 degree angle, PDAF, 5 lenses, video recording 2160p@30fps |
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| Selfie | Outer : center hole, 32 MP, f/2.4, 81 degrees, 5 lenses Internal : hole in the left corner, 32 MP, f / 2.4, capture angle 81 degrees, 5 lenses |
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| Battery | 4500 mAh (two cells: 2415 mAh + 2085 mAh) | |
| Charger | USB 3.1 Type-C, wired 33W, wireless 15W, reversible wireless 10W | |
| Wireless interfaces | WiFi 6 Bluetooth 5.2 A-GPS, Beidou, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
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| NFC | There is | |
| Biometrics | Fingerprint scanner in the power button | |
| Sound | Stereo speakers (only in unfolded mode) | |
| Waterproof | Not declared | |
| Dimensions and weight | 132.6 x 146 x 7.95 mm (unfolded) 132.6 x 73 x 15.9 mm (folded) 275 g |
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Video review
Equipment and design
The black box of OPPO Find N pleases both with its design and materials. But the content is not encouraging: there is only a standard set of needles, documentation, a USB cable and a charger (33 W). It would have been nice for a small-scale device with a potentially not the most reliable design to put some kind of protection in the kit, but this was not done. Thank you at least for sticking the films on the screens. Minus one reason to worry about the phone!
On duty I will say that OPPO Find N is available in three colors – white, mother-of-pearl and black – and I will move on to the really interesting. form factor. When folded, we have a phone with a 5.5″ 18:9 screen (well, or 17.96:9, to be exact; 1972×988 pixels). Many, having seen such a diagonal, recognized Find N as an analogue of the iPhone 12/13 mini, but this is incorrect for three reasons: firstly, the iPhone is not 1.5 cm thick, secondly, it does not weigh 275g (even the Pro Max is lighter!), and thirdly, it does not have a hinge, which adds 6-7 Foldable smartphones from Samsung and Xiaomi are much narrower, and I think that’s right – Find N feels bulky. Although it still feels somewhat compact – reaching the far corners of the screen here is as easy as on the iPhone 13 mini.
OPPO Find N and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3
There are two more factors that negatively affect ergonomics. First, an unsuccessful aluminum frame. It was polished to a shine, which not only threatens with scratches, but also makes the phone slippery. Secondly, the hinge is rather tight. This is certainly important for its durability and “notebook mode”, but opening the OPPO Find N is a little hard. To do this with one hand is almost impossible, with two – it is also not always handy. However, thanks to the relatively wide external display (and not like Samsung and Xiaomi, which I praised a little higher for the same), you will not often want to refer to it.
OPPO Find N and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3
But we still turn to him. The idea of an almost square (8.4: 9) internal screen seemed controversial to many, but I got it. It is easy to reach anywhere on the screen, but at the same time it is really big and allows you to do a lot with convenience unheard of in classic smartphones. On the other hand, not all scenarios can use the panel size: for example, 16:9 video here looks no larger than on a standard smartphone. The board itself is good too. Bright, contrast, 120 Hz, everything is with her. The crease at the place of the fold is not felt at all by the fingers – it is very wide, but with a minimum depth. The only thing missing is DC Dimming. And it is needed: PWM even at maximum brightness above 60%. There is no DC Dimming on the external screen either, and in general they put some kind of simple panel there: no hertz, no normal Full HD (why not 1080p, huh?). But for some reason, one of the edges was rounded – it turned out, of course, the first smartphone since the Galaxy Note Edge with a display curved on one side, but why? Don’t know.
No less questions are the location of the stereo speakers. When the smartphone is deployed, they are at opposite ends of the bottom end and give excellent stereo. But it is worth folding the device, and both speakers are in the same place. OPPO even honestly turns off the stereo and the speakers play the same thing. The external speaker is not involved in music playback, so when using the Find N’s external screen, you get mono sound.
Also, after the announcement, I had great doubts about the location of the end buttons: the volume rocker and the power key with a built-in fingerprint scanner (very high quality, no questions asked) are at the same height at different ends. In practice, this turned out to be convenient to use: the tablet mode is already intended exclusively for two-handed use, and each hand has its own buttons. When folded, the buttons are very close to each other, but due to the large thickness they do not get confused. A good height makes them convenient to use. Especially taking screenshots on the external Find N screen is great!
Well, the main question for any clamshell is, of course, the reliability of the hinge. OPPO claims an insane amount of folding that the Find N can handle, but you do realize that this is lab data from a robotic arm that performs a perfectly smooth motion, right? In reality, you will press not only in the direction necessary for opening and closing, but also a little to the side and on the hinge itself. So, the hinge mechanism does not seem to withstand pressure to the side very much – our copy is already playing a little, and at the same time a quiet but suspicious sound is heard. And the phone is just over a month old!
Software
The software basis of OPPO Find N is ColorOS 12 based on Android 11. The firmware is Chinese, but Google Play is installed without unnecessary difficulties, there is a Russian language and Google Pay works. OPPO has done a great job of adapting the skin for a dual-screen device, and many things are done very well here. For example, there is very convenient multitasking on the big screen, and you can also choose how the phone will act when closed: lock, automatically activate the external screen, or offer to swipe on the external screen to activate it (otherwise lock). The “Camera” provides a lot of chips for the internal screen and even the use of two screens at the same time. But in some places they “underdone”: for example, there is not enough opportunity to separately configure the desktops of the external and internal screens.
But the main problem is the adaptation of applications to the internal screen. Square screens have never been common in the Android world, and developers usually don’t bother with tablets at all. As a result, many applications on the internal screen look ridiculous. To protect you from this, OPPO has chosen to run all new apps at 16:9 by default, leaving huge stripes around the edges. Therefore, after each installation of the application, you need to go to Settings – Home screen – Display scale and change 16:9 to full screen mode there. I can’t say that it didn’t shake me. The stripes disappear, but the software still looks strange – application units work adequately on OPPO Find N. Moreover, even built-in applications have problems.
Even more problems arise when you change the screen. For example, Telegram does not rebuild the layout until you close it through the multitasking menu. Therefore, if you open it from the big screen and then minimize the phone, you will see the tablet interface on a 5.5″ display. And if you open it on a small screen and expand it to a large screen, the interface for the phone will be displayed on a 7.1″ screen. In some applications, auto-rotate stops working without explanation, and in the standard dialer, when you switch from the internal screen to the external one, the call button (wat) disappears.
Summing up local results, I can say that OPPO has not been able to sufficiently adapt the software for Find N. The shell looks good on both screens, but applications often do not understand what is happening and where they ended up – even built-in ones. Third-party software will probably start to look better on Find N after updating to Android 12L (if any) and in general with the development of this form factor, but OPPO needs to do something with standard applications.
cameras
OPPO Find N received a set of cameras reminiscent of the flagships of two or three years ago. No glitches, but no frills either: 50MP main camera with OIS (1/1.56″), 13MP telephoto with 2x zoom and 16MP wide without autofocus. First, let’s look at standard photos, and then I’ll tell you what interesting camera offers OPPO Find N in connection with its form factor.
Well, I liked the OPPO Find N cameras. It happens more abruptly, of course, but in general, the device offered a decent and almost universal set of cameras. There is a little lack of autofocus in width to shoot macro, but even without this it turns out to shoot some kind of close-ups (with 2x digital zoom). And in general, the width is just a little weaker than other OPPO Find N cameras, it takes pictures with less detail and a lot of noise. But the telephoto is good here: although it is only 2x (actually a little more), it connects in most situations and adds great detail compared to digital zoom.
The dual-screen clamshell form factor allowed OPPO to implement some cool features. For example, an additional viewfinder on the external screen – so that the one you shoot can also see what happens. Plus, laptop mode opens up a lot of opportunities, and this is somewhat reminiscent of the ASUS Zenfone 6/7/8 Flip camera chips. You can shoot video by placing the phone on something – and no shaking, nothing. In this mode, you can take pictures with a very long exposure without additional equipment, you can shoot time-lapses. An example with 150x acceleration (1 hour -> 25 seconds) is at the link. And with time-lapses, OPPO specifically got confused, transferring all the features of a professional photo mode there: exposure, white balance, shutter speed for each frame and other parameters can be adjusted manually. Well done!
Now about the video. The main camera can record in quality up to 2160p@60fps, wide and telephoto are connected to 2160p@30fps. Moreover, switching between all three cameras is available in the course of shooting, which cannot but rejoice. True, OPPO did not work at all on the uniformity of color reproduction on the three modules, so the transitions are quite noticeable (especially between the main camera and the wide one). I have no other complaints about the video sequence, so in general, in terms of filming the movie, it’s a credit.
external – internal
There are two front cameras in OPPO Find N, but they are the same, 32 megapixels each (other parameters are also the same). Only here you are unlikely to wipe the internal camera regularly (it’s scary!), So due to pollution, it will shoot worse. And front cameras, despite the high resolution, do not know how to write 4K video. Why then so many pixels?! But in general, the selfies turn out to be quite good, how much we won’t scold these cameras in vain.
Performance and Benchmarks
This, perhaps, is the section that you can not write – everything is immediately clear. Snapdragon 888. It throttles and heats up (albeit less than you might expect – see screenshots). The performance of last year’s flagship chip is enough for any games, problems with it can only be with long sessions. But in general there will be problems – just not related to performance.
I already wrote above that the vast majority of applications behave inappropriately on the almost square screen of OPPO Find N. Of course, this also applies to games. Somewhere a very narrow viewing angle (Genshin Impact, Asphalt 9), somewhere extra interface elements are visible (Brawl Stars), somewhere all the buttons become giant (SuperTuxKart), in some games the picture is stretched (Call of Duty: Mobile), some twitch back and forth (Kingdom Rush 3). Alternatively, you can play at 16:9, but this will “eat” all the advantages of a large screen. Or play on an external 5.5 “screen. But why did you buy OPPO Find N then? I will add that the stereo is good (only on the internal screen, I remind you), but the touch only works at 120 Hz (OPPO claims more, but so far there are no more ).
Batteries are the sore point of all foldable smartphones. The battery here is pretty decent, 4500 mAh, and you can expect 5-6 hours of screen time from it during the day with active use (camera, games, social networks). In general, unlike the Galaxy Z Fold 3 / Z Flip 3, OPPO Find N is on the same level with conventional flagship smartphones in terms of autonomy. And it’s really great.
In terms of charging speed, it is also good – a full charge in 59 minutes, a half in about 27 minutes. Of course, these are far from the indicators that we are used to in flagship BBKs, which regularly flaunt 65 or 120 W chargers, but you need to understand that powerful charging requires quite voluminous controllers, and here every cubic millimeter counts. And half the battery in 27 minutes is not the speed you can complain about. Plus, it supports wireless charging and even reverse wireless charging.
In terms of wireless communications, there is complete order (Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, five navigation systems), but relative melancholy with wired communications: there is no microSD, there is no headphone jack. The SIM tray is double, and thanks for that.
findings
OPPO Find N is a very interesting experiment. I liked the format chosen by the company: here both the external screen is quite usable, and the internal one is large and allows you to do many things with greater convenience than any classic smartphone. Yes, the folded ergonomics are worse than those of the Galaxy Z Fold 3, but this option definitely has a right to exist. In addition, OPPO managed to make the foldable smartphone last long enough without recharging, which is also important.
But the software spoils the picture: most Android applications have disgusting compatibility with the specific OPPO Find N screen. This is not OPPO’s fault (although the company optimized its own applications so-so), but it greatly spoils the user experience. And here the Samsung / Xiaomi version with a screen close to 4:3 looks more attractive – much more software is optimized for 4:3. But what is more correct: to optimize software for a new form factor or to optimize a new form factor for software?
© Oleg Lazarev. mobile phone
