Oppo will release its latest foldable phone in New Zealand next month, giving Kiwis another option in the fast-growing foldable market currently dominated by Samsung.
The Find N3 is billed as having the "sharpest and brightest" screens of any foldable in the world, with Oppo also claiming it's the only foldable with a 'pro-grade' camera setup.
It will launch on November 9 with a local RRP of NZ$2999, which is higher than the launch price of Samsung's recently released equivalent, the Galaxy Z Fold5 ($2849), and vastly more than the latest popular non-foldable phones, the iPhone 15 and Galaxy S23 ranges.
It is the first book-style foldable Oppo has released in Aotearoa and follows the release of its first clamshell-style foldable in the region, the Find N2 Flip, earlier this year.
Oppo unveiled the Find N3 during an event at the Changi Exhibition Centre in Singapore with hundreds of journalists from around the world in attendance.
There the company revealed the Find N3 is thinner and lighter than its Samsung equivalent at 239g and 5.8mm when open or 11.7mm when closed. Its hinge is also said to be the most durable, with independent testing by TÜV Rheinland confirming it can withstand 1 million folds.
The front screen is 6.3 inches while the internal screen is 7.8 inches. Both AMOLED displays boast a 1-120Hz dynamic refresh rate, support Dolby Vision and HDR10+ as well as a peak brightness of 2800 nits.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 powers the device, which packs 512GB of storage and 16GB RAM.
But it's in the camera arena where Oppo appears most keen to set a higher standard than its rivals. The Find N3 boasts a triple camera consisting of a 48MP wide with Sony's LYTIA-T808 sensor, a 48MP ultrawide and a 64MP periscope telephoto camera.
"Oppo is delivering the best imaging experience," Peter Lee, Oppo's head of flagship product line, told Newshub in Singapore.
"People spend a lot of time watching videos on social media and you need a very good mobile camera to create better photos and videos.
"We launched the Find X6 series this year and got a hugely positive response from the media and professional photographers. So we believe delivering a professional imaging experience is the key feature for smartphone users."
Oppo intends for the camera in the new device to be considered flagship-level, hoping that with it customers don't have to decide on buying a foldable phone at the expense of not getting the best smartphone camera available.
The three camera setup on its rear also gives the Find N3 a distinctive look. Two colour options will be on offer each with a different accompanying material: champagne gold with a glass back, and black with a vegan leather back.
There are also lower grade selfie cameras on the front and interior screens.
Oppo also said it has "reimagined the big-screen foldable experience for Find N3" with upgrades to the taskbar and a multi-app feature called Boundless View promising more convenient multi-tasking.
The phone's battery is 4805mAh versus 4400 on the Z Fold5 - and it charges faster. A 67W fast-charger will come in the box, promising 80 percent from a 30-minute charge and 100 percent in 42 minutes.
The Find N3 will receive four years of software updates and five years of security updates, Oppo said.
The total package presents an impressive offering that should earn consideration by consumers in the lucrative foldable market.
In New Zealand as well as many other countries, sales of foldables have been trending up significantly in recent years. Market research company IDC reports the global foldable market will reach 20.4 million devices in 2023 - up 44 percent from 14.2 million in 2022 - and is projected to reach 54.3 million by 2027.
For the past few years Oppo has been the third most popular smartphone brand in Aotearoa, behind Apple and Samsung. The Find N2 Flip outperformed sales expectations when it launched in New Zealand in March ahead of Samsung releasing the Z Flip5 and Z Fold5 in August.
The N3 Flip has since been launched internationally, but Oppo doesn't plan to ship that model to Aotearoa.
In other countries the foldable market has several major players including Google, Huawei, Xiaomi and Motorola. It's rumoured that Apple has been working on foldable devices for years, too.
In New Zealand, however, the market has been overwhelmingly dominated by Samsung as the only viable option - until this year.
But $2999 is an undeniably high cost, particularly amid the cost of living crisis. Whether or not New Zealand consumers believe the Find N3 is worth such a premium will become clearer next month after the phone hits shelves.
