Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs. OPPO Find N2 Flip: Which flip phone should you buy?
The outright winner
With the Galaxy Z Flip 5, Samsung is finally rolling out a large cover screen that unlocks more usability. You can now use nine widgets on the cover screen and see incoming notifications, and the redesigned hinge mechanism makes it easier to unfold the device. You’re getting the latest Qualcomm hardware here, and while the cameras haven’t changed, they still manage to deliver stellar shots in any scenario. Combine that with all the extras like IPX8 water resistance and wireless charging, and you get an all-rounder that doesn’t miss out on much. Sure, the battery life is strictly average, but the rest of the features make up for it.
For
- Large 3.4-inch cover screen is much more usable
- Inner screen is brighter than last year
- Latest internal hardware
- Reliable cameras
- IPX8 water resistance
- Wireless charging
- Four years of Android OS updates
Against
- Battery life isn’t as good as Find N2 Flip
- Noticeable crease
Almost as good
The Find N2 Flip continues to be a solid alternative to the Z Flip 5 — in countries where it is officially available. You can’t pick up the foldable in North America, and that is a letdown considering the design and feature-set on offer here. I’m partial to OPPO’s hinge system as it articulates much more smoothly than the Z Flip 5, and I like the design as well. The Find N2 Flip also has better battery life, and there’s barely any crease on the inner screen. That said, it misses out in a few areas: there’s no IP rating, no wireless charging, and the cameras aren’t quite on par with what Samsung is offering.
For
- Gorgeous design, smooth hinge
- Nearly invisible crease
- Large outer screen is great as a viewfinder
- Good battery life
- Four years of Android OS updates
Against
- No IPX8
- No wireless charging
- No 4K video at 60fps
- Not available in North America
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs. OPPO Find N2 Flip: Design
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The biggest design change with this generation is a larger outer screen on the Galaxy Z Flip 5 that extends to cover one half of the foldable. That makes the foldable that much more usable, and puts it on an equal footing with the Find N2 Flip in this regard.
Outside of that, both foldables have striking designs and are available in attractive color options. I got to use both the Astral Black and Moonlit Purple colors of the Find N2 Flip — the gold variant is exclusive to China — and I can say that the purple option is much more interesting. The Z Flip 5 is sold in a total of eight color options, and the Mint variant stands out just that bit more.
There isn’t a whole lot different in the overall design aesthetic here; both foldables have a flip phone design, and they’re roughly the same size and weight. The Find N2 Flip is a little thicker and heavier, but that’s just down to a larger 4,300mAh battery. Both have similar bezels on the sides as well, and the hinge articulates smoothly on either foldable.
On the subject of the hinge, Samsung went with a new hinge with the Z Flip 5, and the result is that it doesn’t have as visible a crease as earlier generations. That said, the Find N2 Flip does better here, with the foldable featuring a crease that’s barely visible in daily use. The Z Flip 5 has a stiffer hinge mechanism, and I particularly like how easy it is to open and close the Find N2 Flip.
But where Samsung easily wins out is ingress protection; it is still the only manufacturer to offer IPX8 water resistance on its foldables. The Find N2 Flip doesn’t have any sort of dust or water resistance. To round things off on the design front, the Z Flip 5 has a glass back that gives it a slightly sleeker feel, and it is covered by a layer of Gorilla Glass Victus 2 at the back. To save weight, the Find N2 Flip uses a plastic back, but both foldables have an aluminum chassis.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs. OPPO Find N2 Flip: Screens
Both foldables have largely similar screens: the Z Flip 5 has a 3.4-inch cover screen along with a 6.7-inch inner screen, and you get a 3.6-inch cover screen along with a 6.8-inch inner panel on the Find N2 Flip. Samsung has a distinct advantage in that the cover screen on the Z Flip 5 features a layer of Gorilla Glass Victus 2, giving it added resilience against tumbles. The Find N2 Flip also has a strengthened glass coating, but it isn’t by Corning.
The cover screen on both foldables uses an AMOLED panel that goes up to 60Hz, and that’s more than adequate for the intended use case. The big downside is that neither foldable lets you run full apps on the outer screen; the Find N2 Flip is limited to a few widgets that include the camera, weather, timer, and so on, and the Z Flip 5 features nine widgets in total.
Now, you can use Samsung’s Good Lock to launch apps on the outer screen, but it is an additional step, and most users wouldn’t bother using another utility just to use an app on the cover screen. Motorola still has the edge in this area, and even though Samsung did the right thing and introduced a large cover screen, it is hobbled by software choices.
Thankfully, there are no limitations when it comes to the inner screen. Both foldables have AMOLED panels that go up to 120Hz, and there’s a plastic layer covering the screens that provides additional durability. The plastic layer doesn’t affect usability, and there isn’t much to differentiate the inner screen on either foldable. The Z Flip 5 gets a little brighter, but you’ll only notice that when using both foldables next to one another.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs. OPPO Find N2 Flip: Hardware and cameras
While both foldables have been evenly matched thus far, the Z Flip 5 is in a dominant position on the hardware side of things thanks to the fact that it is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The foldable has much more power to offer in daily use, whether that’s in multitasking or playing the latest games. There’s the usual caveat that foldables don’t have the same thermal efficiency as traditional flagships, so you do see some throttling, but it is considerably better than the Find N2 Flip.
Although the Find N2 Flip features decent enough hardware in its own right, the Dimensity 9000 doesn’t quite hold up against the latest that Qualcomm has to offer. I noticed the device overheating when using the camera extensively or while gaming, and there were a few instances of lag as well during extended gaming sessions. Again, this is only evident while using both devices side-by-side, but it’s clear that the Z Flip 5 wins this round.
Both foldables have 8GB of RAM and come with 256GB and 512GB storage versions, but Samsung offers the latest UFS 4.0 storage modules while the Find N2 Flip has the older UFS 3.1 module instead. Samsung also offers Wi-Fi 6e connectivity, and the North American variant has mmWave 5G bands in addition to Sub-6.
While Samsung has a distinct edge with the hardware, it misses out on the battery: the Z Flip 5 uses the same 3700mAh battery as last year, and while it lasts a day most of the time, it doesn’t quite cut it for heavy use. The Find N2 Flip, meanwhile, comes with a 4300mAh battery that manages to last a full day. Sure, there have been plenty of instances where the foldable needed to be charged at the end of the day as it hit 10%, but of the two, the Find N2 Flip definitely lasts longer.
Thankfully, Samsung has a distinct edge on the camera front, with the Z Flip 5 featuring a much better camera system. Although the camera hardware itself hasn’t changed from last year, the brand somehow managed to eke out much better detail in just about any shooting scenario over the Z Flip 4, and that’s nothing to scoff at. And while I like what the Find N2 Flip does in this area, it just doesn’t deliver shots that look as good.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs. OPPO Find N2 Flip: Software
It’s the software that makes Samsung’s devices the best foldable phones around, and the South Korean manufacturer is doing all the right things in this area. Thanks to the large cover screen, you now have the ability to see much more information without having to unfold the Z Flip 5, and that’s a big deal in daily use. While I would have liked the ability to use apps on this screen, that isn’t quite the case yet. For now, only Motorola offers this particular feature on the Razr+.
That said, the Z Flip 5 has much more widgets than the Find N2 Flip, and as I said before, you can use Good Lock as a workaround to run any app you want on that cover screen. I’m also partial to One UI over ColorOS in general, and I think Samsung does a better job with the overall cohesiveness of the interface.
In a similar vein, Samsung has the edge when it comes to software updates. Both foldables will get four guaranteed Android OS updates and five years of security patches, and it’s a given that the Z Flip 5 will pick up the Android 14 stable build ahead of the Find N2 Flip. Samsung has started to roll out One UI 6 beta, and the Z Flip 5 is just behind the Galaxy S23 series in getting the stable update.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs. OPPO Find N2 Flip: Which should you buy?
I like what OPPO has achieved with the Find N2 Flip, and it is a legitimate alternative if you’re interested in a flip phone. The basics are handled well, and you get a gorgeous design with a smooth hinge and a crease that’s barely noticeable in daily use. The main camera is decent enough in its own right, and the battery life is clearly better than other phones in this segment.
That said, there are a few omissions: the outer screen’s usability is limited by the software, you don’t get the ability to shoot 4K video, and there’s no ingress protection or wireless charging. The biggest downside is the availability — there’s no way to buy the phone in North America. But if you’re in India, the U.K., or other global markets where OPPO officially sells the Find N2 Flip, you’ll find that it has a lot to offer — just not as much as Samsung.
The inclusion of a larger cover screen and a new hinge mechanism give the Z Flip 5 a distinct edge, making an already-great foldable even better. There isn’t much missing here, and the fact that you get the latest hardware and the best set of software features on a foldable means the Z Flip 5 is the obvious choice. I’d like to see what OPPO comes up with next year, but for now, if you want a flip-style foldable, the Z Flip 5 is the obvious choice.
The outright winner
Samsung is onto a winner with the Z Flip 5. The foldable has everything you’re looking for in a flip phone in 2023, and the large cover screen combined with the software features make it the default choice.
Almost as good
OPPO got a lot right with the Find N2 Flip, but limited global availability along with a few software omissions make the foldable not as alluring. That said, if you want better battery life and a smoother hinge with less visible crease, this is the one to get.