朋友最近推出了第二代翻转phone, the Find N3 Flip. It comes with several refinements over last year’s popular Find N2 Flip. The aim is to bring the flip phone experience on par with that of flagship bar phones. There are three key areas where the OPPO Find N3 Flip brings improvements over its predecessor. Let us discuss them and everything else that is new and different in the Find N3 Flip.
Enhanced camera capabilities
The biggest upgrade coming to the Find N3 Flip is the Hasselblad-branded triple-camera system. While the camera resolution is the same as in the Find X6 Pro (review), there are a few changes though, especially in the sensor size and focal lengths of the telephoto camera. It has a 50MP (24mm) primary camera with f/1.8 aperture, 1/1.56-inch sensor size and 1.0um pixel size. It also includes OIS to let users capture blur-free photos and videos. The main camera is paired with a 32MP (47mm) telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom capabilities and a 48MP ultrawide (14mm) camera. This makes the Find N3 Flip the first flip foldable to feature triple cameras with high-resolution sensors.
Besides, the Find N3 Flip pioneers selfie capabilities, allowing users to capture great shots. The large cover screen provides a preview for framing the perfect shot, while the multi-angle hovering capability of the foldable enables different angles for selfies. It also comes with a new interval shooting function.
Pioneering large cover display
OPPO has pioneered the new-generation clamshell-type foldable with an unprecedentedly large cover display. In older-generation clamshell-type foldables such as the Z Flip, Z Flip3, Z Flip4, Huawei P50 Pocket and the Pocket S, the cover displays typically measured around 1 inch. However, OPPO started a trend with the Find N2 Flip, introducing a cover display as large as 3.26 inches. This trend has been swiftly embraced by other OEMs, including vivo, Motorola and Samsung. While these cover displays may appear small in today’s context, they are akin to the original iPhone’s 3.5-inch display. The significance lies in the ability of OEMs to leverage and enhance these cover displays, making them more practical and beneficial for consumers.
In the Find N3 Flip, the 3.26-inch vertical cover display remains the same in size but has more functionality than the first-generation Find N2 Flip. Users can access navigation, music and social networking apps, as well as smart key integration for select car brands. OPPO’s cover screen is said to have the most number of customized apps in the industry, such as WeChat, TikTok, Weibo, bilibili, Xiaohongshu, QQ music and Netease. In addition, OPPO has upgraded the animated 2D emojis to 3D, which can be used as cover display wallpapers.
Upgraded hardware
The Find N3 Flip is powered by MediaTek’s 4nm Dimensity 9200 chipset. The battery is still capped at 4,300mAh and supports the same 44W fast-charging speeds. The N3 Flip opens up to a 6.8-inch foldable LTPO AMOLED screen with a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate. The N3 Flip also passed the TÜV Rheinland Folding Endurance Test, registering a record-breaking 600,000 folds.
Colors and pricing
The Find N3 Flip comes in three colors – Rosy Pink, Mirror Black and Moonlight Gold. It features a popular three-stage alert slider used by OnePlus, making it easy to toggle between Ring, Silent and Vibrate modes. Along with the smartphone, OPPO is also offering stylish phone cases designed by famous local designers.
The pricing of the phone came as a surprise. The 256GB variant with 12GB RAM is priced at RMB 6,799 (around $934) and the 512GB variant with 12GB RAM is priced at RMB 7,599 (around $1,044). These prices are slightly higher than the N2 Flip’s launch price.
The Find N3 Flip is already on sale and is expected to launch in global markets in October. While the model has impressive upgrades compared to its first generation, its design and features seem to be geared toward a female audience, positioning it not just as a smartphone but also as a stylish accessory.
The robust growth in the global foldable market was largely driven by the growth in the Chinese foldable market. Although the Chinese smartphone market declined by about 8% YoY in Q1 2023, the domestic foldable market continued to grow, surging 117% YoY to 1.08 million units. Commenting on this phenomenon,
OPPO’s strong Q1 2023 performance is noteworthy as it reflects the brand’s success in the Chinese foldable market, which is emerging as the world’s largest foldable smartphone market. OPPO ranked second in the Chinese foldable market with a slight gap with leader Huawei, helped by the N2 Flip and N2 which were released at the end of 2022. In particular, the N2 Flip, OPPO’s clamshell-type foldable, contributed a lot to the increase in the sales of clamshell-type products in China, beating Huawei’s Pocket S. Samsung’s growth in the China foldable market is also noteworthy. Samsung made efforts to target the Chinese market by launching the W23 and W23 Flip, which are variants of the Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4, respectively, produced mainly for the Chinese market and MEA market. This helped Samsung grow rapidly in the Chinese foldable market in Q1 2023. Commenting on the foldable smartphone market outlook for 2023,
