New Zealanders wanting a premium modern smartphone that flips open and snaps shut like clamshell-style cellphones did in the '90s and '00s have another great a new option.
The Oppo Find N2 Flip is released this week as a direct competitor to Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip series, the most recent of which is the Z Flip4 released in August last year.
It's an exciting release because of what it means for the foldable market that tech companies are convinced is growing at a much faster rate than other types of smartphones.
I have to admit, answering a call by opening the phone and hanging up by closing it is just naturally intuitive, nostalgic and satisfying. Flip phones are also stylish and compact in a way other modern phones just aren't.
But will the flip-and-snap factor blow up in popularity again like it's 2004? Who's to say.
Having been using the Find N2 Flip for a few weeks now, I have a fair bit to say about what it's like.
Normally in a phone review I don't compare one model against another so much, but this is the most explicit head-to-head I've come across since I've been reviewing phones. I'd normally save the verdict until the end - but this time I'm going to cut right to the chase.
The verdict
The Find N2 Flip is just as good as the Galaxy Z Flip4.
It's not noticeably better or worse in normal day-to-day use and I think the different user experience of the two different Android operating skins, along with compatibility with other products one owns, are what should be the deciding factors.
There definitely are some things the Find N2 Flip does better than the Galaxy Z Flip4 - especially around its battery and front display - but then the Samsung device beats the Oppo on other fronts too.
For what most Kiwis would want from a smartphone that can flip open and shut, both of these are a solid option with no clear winner or loser.
Both take decent photos - but not as good as the top-end Oppo, Samsung or Apple phones that have better cameras at the expense of not being foldable.
Both have decent enough power to run all the standard apps most folks will want to run, but again, neither is as powerful as the flagship, non-flippable phones from the same companies.
Both should run all day on a charge before you need to plug in, provided you're not using it for too much ultra-demanding stuff.
Both have beautiful main AMOLED displays that support 120Hz and HDR10+ so watching videos and looking at photos on them is a pleasure.
Both have a crease that's barely perceptible when the phone is open, but is still there if you look hard enough.
Both cost around $1700.
In a nutshell: both are stylish, cool and great at what they do. As for the Find N2 Flip, below are further impressions it made during my review period.
The bad
One thing that bugs me is the colour options - normally not something I care about very much, but it's an important factor this time.
The N2 Flip comes in a black and a soft purple and both look fabulous. But they're both practically identical to two of the four colour options of the Z Flip4.
It's one thing to come out as a direct competitor with another product on the market - but how hard would it be to choose other colourways? At this point Oppo should really have enough confidence to more clearly be their own thing.
By choosing two of the same colours as the Samsung devices, it at least looks like they're trying to fool people into thinking they're the same thing, even if that isn't what they're doing.
With other types of modern smartphones, the colour isn't a major factor, especially as most of us stick a protective case on anyway. But this is a flip phone in which style is a bit more important and I do wish the colours were more clearly distinct from Samsung's.
There is also a bit of bloatware that comes preloaded on the N2 Flip that makes it feel less premium than other devices when you're first setting it up.
Once it's up and running, Color OS is an awesome Android skin with a lot of unique features, but every now and then it appears to have little glitches.
The good
Size does matter when it comes to displays and the N2 Flip has a much larger cover screen. To be exact, it's 3.26 inches versus the 1.9 inches of the Z Flip4.
This is not the main screen you'll use for normal functions, but it's much nicer for it to be bigger for the stuff you'd want a cover screen for - especially as a camera monitor.
That is one feature that will appeal greatly to people who enlist others as their photographer - and are unhappy with the crappy photography that often results. It also means you can take much better selfies using the main camera rather than the inferior selfie camera.
As for the battery, the N2 Flip has a 4300 mAh battery versus the Z Flip4's 3700. Oppo also offers better fast-charging and comes with a fast-charger in the box, which Samsung does not.
If you want your flip phone's battery to last longer and charge quicker, then the N2 Flip is definitely the better of the two, but the Z Flip4 should still get most users through a day of normal use without needing a charge.
Other aspects of the user experience are harder to review because they take years to kick in, but Oppo offers a New Zealand-based customer service centre with local repair facilities as well as a longer warranty period.
With the N2 Flip, Oppo NZ is offering a three-year warranty, as well as committing to software updates for four years and security updates for five.
Depending on how long you want to use your phone, those could be quite attractive factors. They're throwing in a screen repair discount and free screen protector replacement too.
All in all, it's a very impressive start from Oppo as the second player in the premium modern flip phone market.
The Find N2 Flip is a worthy competitor to the Galaxy Z Flip4 and betters it on some fronts. While there are other flip phones available overseas that might also come to Aotearoa if this style becomes more popular, there are already two great options for Kiwis to choose from.
Newshub was supplied a Find N2 Flip phone for this review.
