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The Oppo Find N isn’t some fancy folding phone you can’t buy here in America. It is also the best example of a folding phone to date, and perhaps even the most important folding phone released so far. That’s not because it’s a good phone – in my opinion, it’s not. But it shows the remaining flaws better than what I’m used to. And, to Oppo’s credit, these are mostly software issues, some of which are outside of its control. But Find N’s hardware is stellar, with a uniquely flat display and a much better landscape-that layout, eases my fear that Samsung’s early lead will lead to a monopoly. I’d go so far as to say that, in one fell swoop, Oppo’s folding hardware just leapfrogged the Galaxy Z Fold3 line.

Just like Oppo has claimed, Find N’s internal folding display is base flat when you open it, thanks to the hinge design more than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3. Some have called it similar to Motorola’s hinge in the Razr, but I can’t tell you that’s true. The folding display is not only stretched taut, one, it is supported from behind by some communication. I pushed against it harder than I should have, pulled my finger across the seam with a high degree, and apart from a few small changes that you could hear but don’t see, it’s easy.

That pans out when it comes to viewing angles, too. I was never bothered by the strap on the Z Fold2 or Fold3, but definitely not this one at all. Although there are bright points, where the change of the angle will be more visible, it is almost the same – at least, I can not see any problem, and I have chosen many about that. The same thing almost to the point of view, but it is not perfect; there are some small ripples.

Find N display crease vs. Galaxy Z Fold3

There is also no difference, as all of Samsung’s devices have come up to date. Well, almost there’s no difference – the two parts of the clamshell are meant to lock together perfectly, but some small changes in the bezel/bumper combination mean you can see a bit of the light at certain angles in certain areas, and are approximately 1 mm square. the gap between the hinge.

I’m paid to prioritize electronics, and I have a few other minor issues to point out. For one, the display has the dreaded “jelly scroll” effect if you have particularly sharp eyes, like on the Z Fold3. The 120Hz refresh rate makes it less noticeable, but it’s still there (and appears to be more horizontal than vertical when held in landscape). The rubber that protects the edges of the display on the hinge is also not perfectly square, although the Z Fold3 has a similar problem.

This isn’t the best folding display I’ve used in a smartphone, Oppo’s full body design seems to work well for me. The company’s equivalent of the “cover screen” on the outside is wide enough that typing on it looks normal, and apps of all types themselves are always without strange problems. The Z Fold3 can handle it with a higher screen value, but the tall, skinny window breaks app layouts, and my error rate of tapping on the software keyboard is through the roof. the ratio of super-short portrait aspect ratio.

Oppo also has a few technical errors that make it difficult to use. By default, the phone tells you to continue using the external image after folding it with an odd part of the exterior. I can’t tell you what the goal behind that should be, but I am possible tell you that just closing the phone with both hands makes the external display almost 100% of the time, and it’s very annoying. That’s where you can disable it, but honestly, it should just be off by default. The combination of the power button and the fingerprint is also far from the default, causing the scan if you even brush it. It can be new-tech-fondling, but that is better than having to press the button.

Oppo’s multitasking and window management are not as easy for me as Samsung, although they work. very similar. Oppo even duplicates Samsung’s recognized apps on the split-screen, and you can create App Pair-like connections for quick deployment. (That is, he offered to make these pairs and put them on your home screen, but I can’t see them where he gave them.) But there is a difference, such as pulling a the app from split-screen into floating mode that you. can’t put it back right away, as you can on Samsung devices. These are small things, but it makes managing the window here just a little more fluid.

As a real phone, it has some issues too. Admittedly, I’m using a model intended for the Chinese market in America, and that’s it always bad idea, but band support is not available, and I have already missed some important calls, all while connected ostensibly. And that doesn’t ignore other economic problems in China. From the keyboard’s built-in software (and its unique password entry mode that causes more concerns than it solves them) to the pile of Chinese market bloatware, and the near-missing Right-handedly, Oppo’s software just doesn’t do it. think Very good use. In fact, it’s kind of grating.

This is not a complete review, as our type here means. But this back and forth encapsulates the experience: Stellar hardware is held back by its software. But I need to stress, some of it is not Oppo’s fault. There is criticism here to expand on other developers, which we will touch on shortly. It’s all unfortunate, because the material is just that’s why nice I hate to say that folding smartphone design has “peaked” – really, we’re just getting started – but I think the Find N is the best physical implementation of the concept I’ve seen so far. Open it, however, and even without including Oppo’s software, you run into a whole new problem that can explain why Samsung took the way it did. Just like tablets, Android just isn’t ready for the big screen, and developers haven’t caught up yet – if they ever can.

When unfolded, the Find N’s display takes on a work-first setting compared to the Fold3’s portrait-first display. We’re just a little off square on this aspect ratio, but Oppo is going for just-wide-too-tall, while Samsung aims for the opposite. That means more apps will shift to a tablet-style layout on the Oppo Find N than on the Galaxy Z Fold3. And for some apps, like Spotify or Gmail, the tablet layout usually work well enough for the change to bring additional value – outside of some lines that I will mention later. But not every app is ready for this layout.

Many apps are listed like this – you can’t see much.

Until recently, only large-screen app developers had to focus on tablets. And, as long-time readers will remember, that affects something we complain about a lot: Developers really don’t care that Android tablets are a thing because they are a small part of the business. As a result, all the apps just ignore the extra space and scale and leave with the same layout they do on the 5″ portrait screen. Turns out that means they look like real garbage on the large landscape image. And, well, the Oppo Find N has a large landscape image at launch, so many apps look like garbage there, too.

Adding to that problem, Oppo’s ColorOS flavor of Android isn’t the best-engineered piece of software out there, and display scaling for things like text and apps varies more drastically across apps on the Find N than it does made me on the Galaxy Z. Fold 3. I can’t tell you why that is, but it means that some apps that support larger screens, like Gmail, are not good. Part of that seems to be due to the default DPI and font size the way huge, but even when you tweak the settings to compensate, there’s still not as much consistency as there is on Samsung’s foldables – you randomly run into things that are still way too big.

I hope that part of this problem will be solved when Android 12L (nee Android 12.1) lands with better support for foldables. Although it was introduced as part of Android 11, Oppo told me during my brief introduction to Find N that it does not use the hinge angle search API that landed with Android 11 , and snazzy system UI support for foldables and large-screen devices, too. While I would argue that hardware has passed this stage, foldables are still an early adopter when it comes to software. Google, product manufacturers, and app developers all have to do their part for the dream to come true. If history is any indication, the latter are the ones most likely to drop the ball.

This article looks cool, but it’s kind of gibberish.

The Oppo Find N is probably the most important phone that has landed on me in the last few months – maybe even the last year. It’s not the perfect goal, but it almost perfectly encapsulates the current state of folding phones, showing off the best hardware while pointing out the current flaws in the software. to be close. None of our readers will likely buy it – it’s only coming to China and yours truly, really should not import one – but it shows how much work Google and developers have before them.

It also eases one of the biggest fears I have in the back of my mind, and that is that Samsung has a three-generation head start when it comes to folding phones, leaving all the company in the dust. Huawei was almost destroyed by the US sanctions, stopped their plans, and even TCL stopped using its ideas before bringing them to market. I had been worried that Samsung would be too far ahead for others to catch up, but with one device, Oppo just proved me wrong. If and when OnePlus can get its new Oppo-derived software issues under control, I’ll be very excited to see what it can do with the hardware it’s got the parent company.