It’s been a year since Oppo released the Oppo Find N, a foldable phone that I find to be competitive even against the leading player back then; more specifically, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 3. Today, we have the Oppo Find N2, a more refined (and lighter) successor to the Find N.

Tipping the scales at only 233g, the Find N2 is touted by Oppo to be the “lightest horizontally folding phone” – that is, foldable phones with a tablet-style form factor like the Z Fold 4. But beyond its lightweight nature (which is actually a good selling point, in my opinion), the Find N2 has other commendable qualities too.

First, let’s get to the unboxing experience of the Find N2, and it is quite intricate; as expected for a foldable phone of this calibre. Once I lift up the cover of the box, the foldable phone is presented front and centre, protected by a plastic covering.

Underneath the cover are a number of accessories, including a USB-A to USB-C charging cable, a power adapter, and a simple polycarbonate case. With more phone brands opting for a minimalist packaging now, Oppo’s elaborate packaging for the Find N2 is intriguing, to say the least.

As for the Find N2 itself, it really does feel lightweight! While 233g doesn’t sound all that light on paper, the large dimensions of the phone distributes the weight nicely. Compared to, say, Samsung’s Z Fold 4, the Find N2 is noticeably lighter, so it should be less fatiguing to use for long periods of time.

Aside from its lightweight nature, the hinge of the Find N2 feels very robust as well. Not only does it feel very smooth to fold and unfold the phone, it also closes the phone with a reassuring thud. The best part is, there’s no noticeable gap at all when the phone is folded close – very impressive.

And then we have the two displays of the Find N2. The cover screen is a nice and compact 5.54-inch 2120 x 1080 AMOLED panel, while the primary inner display is a 7.1-inch 1920 x 1792 AMOLED screen; both of them feature a fast 120Hz refresh rate.

Not surprisingly, both panels of the Find N2 look great with vibrant, punchy colours, wide viewing angles, and most importantly, deep, true blacks – winning qualities of AMOLED screens. Both the cover and inner screens can get quite bright as well, so visibility outdoors should be a non-issue.

It’s worth noting that ergonomically, I absolutely love the wide, short cover screen of the Find N2. One-handed use is a breeze thanks to this, and the display is more than big enough for a comfortable viewing experience. No other foldable phone with a similar form factor offers this level of utility.

Anyway, in the performance department, the Find N2 feels fast and zippy with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset. Yes, it’s not the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, but there’s no denying that this is still a very capable chip that can offer flagship-tier performance.

Last but not least is the camera performance of the Find N2, and it feels pretty darn capable. After all, the triple camera system carries the Hasselblad branding, and it’s made up of a 50MP primary shooter, a 48MP ultra-wide angle sensor, and a 32MP telephoto lens.

I took several shots with the three camera sensors, and the results look quite promising. Judge for yourself:

Granted, these images were taken under ideal lighting, and any phone worth its salt – especially for a high-end foldable like the Find N2 – will be able to take great-looking shots. The true test lies in low light photography, and I’ll be sure to put the Hasselblad camera through its paces in the full review.

Without a doubt the Oppo Find N2 is an intriguing, polished, and most of all, compelling foldable smartphone. It’s lightweight, it has a nice and compact form factor – I cannot stress how much I love the ergonomics of the cover screen – and most of all, it doesn’t cost all that much money either.

At least, that’s the case in China, which is the only market the Find N2 will be officially sold. Retailing from 8,000 Chinese yuan there – which comes up to about RM5,080 – its value proposition is good. With that in mind, it’s really a shame the phone won’t be sold outside of China.

Nonetheless, I’ll give the Find N2 a thorough review in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for that. Even though it’s unlikely this phone will be officially available in Malaysia, Oppo’s other foldable phone, the Find N2 Flip, may find its way here in the near future.