It doesn’t feel that long ago that the world saw its first foldable phone, but the past five years say otherwise. From durability to form factor, the space has seen impressive growth with each new generation of devices, built around being slimmer, lighter, and more powerful – and then some. More recently, technological advancements have sparked increased mainstream interest, marking a gradual shift from their initial niche status.
Multitasking and productivity, in particular, are arguably their best weapon, packing more screen real estate into a mould that combines the convenience of a traditional smartphone with tablet functionality. Always one to wield this balancing act with finesse, Oppo finds yet another show-stopping trump card in the Find N5, surpassing an already impressive standard that puts it ahead of the competition.
At first glance, the Cosmic Black iteration (the other is Misty White) appears to retain much of its previous design identity. Like its predecessor, the Find N3 or OnePlus Open, as known in North America and select territories, the device shares the same classy, premium flair defined by its signature, impossible-to-miss Cosmos Ring camera module, flat sides, a slim chassis, and the lack of frills. What’s different here is the silky finish – it ditches a tactile leather back for a sand-textured crystal arrangement with a matte effect, which adds a more cohesive touch to the overall look.
While the switch-up also oozes a stronger air of elegance, its day-to-day utility takes a slight hit. The fine-grained surface made for a secure and comfortable grip before, but Oppo’s latest isn’t as fingerprint-resistant and feels more slippery in hand, especially when coupled with its lean, lightweight chassis. Indeed, the streamlined build continues to be its crown jewel, pushing it to become the world’s thinnest book-style foldable and the company’s lightest to date.
Weighing a mere 229 grams, the Oppo Find N5 measures 8.93mm in traditional handset form and 4.21mm when fully open, just a smidge thicker than a headphone jack. Comparing it to other smartphones gives a better idea of its profile, with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 coming in at 12.1mm / 239 grams and the iPhone 16 Pro Max at 8.25mm / 227 grams. The Cosmos Ring has also been trimmed by 20 percent, allowing for more equal weight distribution and less protrusion.
The improvement can be immediately felt when held, proving that fine details matter. Where the 239-gram Find N3 saw fatigue set in after prolonged use in landscape orientation, the reduced heft makes it easier to hold the device for both work and play – more so for individuals with smaller hands. It should be noted, however, that the camera loadout still gets in the way of specific grips and causes uneven rocking when placed on a flat surface.
Elsewhere, the handset sticks to a familiar template for its connectivity options. A USB-C port sits at the base, with the power button and volume rocker positioned along the frame. The Alert Slider, first introduced in its predecessor, returns as a haptic-supported toggle between the silence (no vibration), vibrate (pulse), and ring (long vibration) modes. The placement of all three buttons remains unchanged from before, so expect minor gripes like a flimsy tactile response and occasional misclicks, as some may find the volume bar too close to the edge and beyond their natural reach. It’s no dealbreaker, though, and the Oppo Find N5 offers compensation in the form of a sturdy build with zero flex and the all-new Titanium Flexion hinge.
Crafted from aerospace-standard Grade 5 titanium alloy, the latter serves as the backbone of its foldable capabilities and according to the Chinese giant, touts 36 percent higher rigidity despite being 26 percent smaller. In practice, the unfolding process proves seamless and effortless, requiring just the right amount of resistance to open or fold it back, which can be done with one hand. More impressively, the phone takes its previous near-crease-less engineering to the next level, neatly baking the crinkle into the screen such that it’s almost invisible to the naked eye, with the viewing experience no different from a regular tablet.
As expected of any foldable offering, the Oppo Find N5 features two displays, starting with a 6.62-inch OLED outer screen. It sports a resolution of 2,616 x 1,140 pixels, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a 20.7:9 aspect ratio, transforming into 8.12 inches when fully open. In this mode, the phone delivers a 2,248 x 2,480 OLED resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a 9:9:9 aspect ratio, but users can expect a fluid response, bright, natural colours, crisp detail, and rich blacks either way.
Naturally, the use case scenario depends on the type of activity – the former is suited for standard tasks like scrolling, reading texts, and surfing social media, while the additional real screen estate proves handy for multitasking, watching videos, mobile gaming, and the like. As users would know, the non-traditional tablet-like aspect ratio sometimes brings up black bars on the top and bottom of the display, which may disrupt general immersion and become a source of distraction.
Hardware performance brings another industry first. The newest member is the only foldable smartphone powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, paired with an Adreno 830 GPU under the hood. The welcome oomph makes itself known through respectable visuals in titles like Genshin Impact, Zenless Zone Zero, Wuthering Waves, and PUBG Mobile, proving highly competent at handling them smoothly with little to no hiccups.
Frame rates are largely consistent, although particle-heavy moments, such as when a character unleashes an Ultimate ability animation or during action-focused cutscenes, can cause slight lag or stutter. Following in its predecessor’s footsteps, thermal management continues to be a highlight – the Oppo Find N5 runs a little hot when the action picks up, but dissipates the heat quickly enough to ensure comfort and stability for extended gaming sessions.
Productivity, too, gets its fair share of upgrades. For starters, Boundless View is now more intuitive and user-friendly, as it houses all features in the triple-dot icon at the top of the screen and allows navigation between different apps with a simple tap. Like before, the tool packs three windows into a single view, with one appearing off-screen and always on standby to be swiped in; unfortunately, the motion is less precise and consistent than expected.
There’s also AI Document, which quickly translates, summaries, or refines content in the default document app; AI Call Summary, designed to transcribe and summarise audio, including phone calls; and a redesigned Translate app that brings live, on-screen, and camera translation, alongside conversational mode where two individuals can engage in cross-language communication, while instant translation appears on each screen in FlexForm mode. It offers nifty assistance in a pinch but makes interactions feel stilted and unnatural, as attention is directed to the screen instead of behavioural cues like eye contact.
Speaking of FlexForm, the Oppo Find N5 now brings file-transfer capabilities between its and Apple models. The O+ Connect app first introduced with last year’s Find X8 series of smartphones promises the same ease of convenience here, and users can now control their Mac devices remotely via a virtual keyboard and mouse-style interactions. Simply prop it up in an L-shaped configuration, and the bottom half will transform into a functional trackpad with support for gesture control.
Be it flagship models or previous foldable iterations, the Chinese giant has never c(r)eased to impress with its photography prowess. This time, the Hasselblad magic is packed into a 50-megapixel (MP) main rear camera, a 50MP telephoto shooter, and an 8MP ultrawide camera mix – a small step down from the triple-50MP loadout of the Find X8 flagship. It hardly matters, however, as the device is still an extremely competent system in its own right, delivering true-to-life colours and crisp detail both indoors and outdoors, even at 6x zoom.
Check out some sample images below:
Natural bokeh and subject separation are a staple across the board, marking a welcome shift from the over-aggressive effect seen on other models. There’s little to complain about image quality, although the 8MP front camera tends to soften skin tones, producing a beautifying effect that may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
Capping the Oppo Find N5 experience off is a high-capacity 5,600mAh battery, up from 4,300mAh previously. According to the company, it offers the longest battery life of any foldable smartphone, clocking up to 25 hours of continuous video streaming. On 3D Mark’s Wildlife Extreme gaming stress test, the Oppo Find N5 saw its battery drop by 11 percent over 20 minutes in Balanced Mode, equivalent to moderate loads in an everyday context, so users will likely get through an eight-hour workday without any issue.
At S$2,499, the powerhouse presents a strong and hard-to-topple argument for the appeal of foldable offerings. It doesn’t bend to competition or the pressure to deliver, maintaining a steady focus on improving what it does best while making small yet meaningful tweaks that users will appreciate. In a tech world riddled with stagnation, the Oppo Find N5 shows there’s still excitement to be found.
GEEK REVIEW SCORE
Summary
The Oppo Find N5 is a worthy successor to an already impressive standard, cementing itself as the blueprint for future foldables – and putting all existing definitions of ‘lean and mean’ to shame.
Overall
9/10
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Aesthetics - 9/10
9/10
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Build Quality - 9/10
9/10
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Performance - 9.5/10
9.5/10
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Value - 8.5/10
8.5/10
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Geek Satisfaction - 9/10
9/10
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
