SINGAPORE - Chinese electronics maker Oppo opened pre-orders on Friday for its latest flip phone priced at $1,299, undercutting its closest competitor in the foldables market – the Samsung Galaxy Flip4, which starts at $1,411.
The Oppo Find N2 Flip’s price tag ranks it among the least expensive foldables at launch, in a market where most devices with flexible screens push past the $1,500 mark.
Oppo’s latest attempt at the folding flip phone aims to beat the competition with what it says is the largest battery and cover screen in the flip phone category and a subtler crease down the middle of the screen.
The device, which is available for pre-order ahead of its March 11 launch, comes in black and purple, with 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM.
The phone has a 3.26-inch front-facing screen that allows users to perform quick tasks without flipping open the device. Oppo said: “Its extra size makes everything easier to do, with the big screen a bona fide fumble-free zone, be it taking selfies or checking notifications.”
Users can also personalise their cover screen with one of five interactive digital pets, including a cat, hamster and bird, on top of the usual time and date information displayed.
Based on early footage of the device, the N2 Flip appears to have a more subtle crease down the middle of the folding screen – an obstacle that has plagued foldable devices. It remains to be seen how durable the material is, although Oppo has said it is tested to survive at least 400,000 folds.
The screen itself is a 6.8-inch 120Hz Amoled display with a 21:9 aspect ratio that is ideal for films. When folded, the phone is almost square-shaped and has a thickness of 16mm – roughly the same as the Samsung Flip4.
The N2 Flip is powered by the Android-based ColorOS operating system, also designed by Oppo. Popular apps for calls like Zoom and WhatsApp have also been optimised to work with the phone’s tripod mode – sitting the phone up perpendicularly, with the camera pointed at the user.
The N2 Flip’s 4,300mAh battery is among the largest in a foldable flip phone and can be fully charged in under an hour, thanks to Oppo’s Supervooc charging technology.
The SIM card tray supports two 5G SIM cards, which can come in handy for those who travel frequently.
Under the hood, the N2 Flip packs the MediaTek Dimensity 9000 Plus chip – the same processor powering smartphones like the Asus ROG Phone 6D that are geared towards gamers.
The flip phone arrives in Singapore after a global launch in December 2022.
The N2 Flip is another option in the growing foldables market, which saw a more mainstream take-up in 2022, led by Samsung’s foldable phones such as the tablet-like Galaxy Z Fold and the clamshell Z Flip series.
An estimated 10 million foldables were shipped worldwide in 2021, a threefold increase from 2020, according to statistics provided by Samsung in July 2022.
