Oppo Flip Phone: How I’m Using the Find N2 Flip’s Huge Cover Screen

Oppo’s first flip phone has arrived. The Chinese company showed off the Find N2 Flip at its global launch event on Wednesday. Oppo’s clamshell-style phone appears to be heavily inspired by Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 4, but with a notably different cover screen and perhaps a more squarish design. 

Unlike the Z Flip 4, the cover display has a vertical orientation, as opposed to a horizontal layout. It’s also much bigger, measuring 3.26 inches with a resolution of 720×382 pixels. By comparison, the Z Flip 4 has a 1.9-inch external display with 260×512-pixel resolution. In fact, the Find N2 Flip has the largest vertical cover screen on any flip phone. 

Apart from the display, the Find N2 Flip has all the features you’d expect from a flip phone in 2023. There are two rear cameras, led by a 50-megapixel lens, a 32-megapixel front-facing camera, a capable processor (MediaTek Dimensity 9000 Plus) and a 4,300-mAh battery, which can be fast-charged at up to 44 watts. There’s no IP rating for water- or dust-resistance. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 has an IPX8 rating, which means it’s also more of an indoor device: It can withstand water immersion but has no official protection against dust.

The Find N2 Flip will be available to pre-order from today and will start at £849 in UK. There are no plans currently for a US release, but this phone is set to hit stores in parts of Europe and Asia.

Find N2 Flip’s cover screen is the biggest display on any flip phone

It’s commendable that Oppo dared to shake up the design of the cover screen on flip phones. Although this might not look as aesthetically elegant as the Galaxy Z Flip 4’s horizontal screen, I believe the Find N2 Flip’s cover screen has the potential for greater functionality. After all, it does boast the largest vertical cover screen on any flip phone. 

I found it convenient to use the Find N2 Flip’s cover screen to quickly scan the weather without needing to open up the phone as I went about my day. All I had to do was swipe left, and the cover screen would display my chosen widgets, including the camera, a timer, the weather and the recorder. I wish Google Calendar was included on the list of the widgets — I could still receive notifications from it, but I couldn’t view my plans from the cover screen. 

Navigation is simple. You can swipe down the cover screen to bring up the control panel, swipe up to see a list of notifications and swipe left to bring up different widgets.

The camera widget lets you use the cover screen as a viewfinder, allowing you to take selfies, take portrait photos and even  shoot video without opening up the phone. Thanks to the larger screen size, you get a good idea of how the photo will turn out as you’re taking the photo. 

Quick replies — also available on the Z Flip 4 — are another convenient feature on this device. When I received a Whatsapp message, I could simply reply from the cover screen by choosing from a set of prewritten templates. I also had the option to create my own message template. In addition to WhatsApp, the quick replies feature is available on Slack, Messenger, Telegram and Line. Like the Galaxy Z Flip 4, this phone doesn’t allow you to type or dictate a reply without opening up the phone. You’re limited to the templates.

In its current form, however, the Find N2 Flips cover screen has limited functionality compared to the one on the Motorola’s Razr 2020. The Razr 2020 serves up a full keyboard for typing, curates apps that are well suited for the cover screen, such as Gmail and YouTube, and it even lets you play PUBG. I wish the cover display on the Oppo offered such freedoms and utility, but there certainly is potential if Oppo manages to nail the software component.  

Find N2 Flip camera

There are two rear cameras on this phone, consisting of a 50-megapixel main camera and an 8-megapixel ultrawide. While this phone has respectable cameras, don’t expect it to take crisp shots of faraway subjects. In fact, images tend to soften when you zoom in digitally by around 5x. To be fair, you’re not likely to be buying this phone for its camera or its zoom skills (there’s no telephoto camera), but for its compact and approachable design. Taking that into account, I found the photos respectable. You can see the camera in action here.

Find N2 Flip’s inner display has a slight crease

The inner display of the Find N2 flip takes the form of a 6.8-inch AMOLED panel. At first glance, you might not see any crease running across the screen, but sometimes it’ll appear in certain angles or in bright lighting conditions. You can also feel it on occasion. For the most part, however, the crease didn’t interfere with my user experience and it’s by no means a deal-breaker for me. After all, the display looked crisp, was responsive and reasonably bright in sunny conditions. 

It also has a 120Hz refresh rate, which made navigating between apps and scrolling through news feeds a smooth experience. This year, Oppo has updated its hinge, which the company says is smaller and thinner, yet stronger than the one on its predecessor. According to the company, Find N2 Flip has been tested for 400,000 folds. Oppo says the display also has an ultrathin glass coating that should help with durability. 

For more details on the Oppo Find N2 Flip, take a look at the specs chart below.