The Oppo Find N5 Is The Best Foldable Most People Will Never Get To Use

I’ve always thought that Oppo’s foldables have been rather remarkable, but the new Find N5 really ups the game. Without a doubt, this is the best foldable I’ve ever used, and it’s a shame that hardly anyone is going to get the chance to use this device.

The Oppo Find N5 is the thinnest foldable in the world, measuring a mere 8.93mm when closed. That’s incredible, to say the least, and delivers a foldable that just feels like a normal phone when using the outer display. It then opens up to what is an insanely thin device, to the point where it can barely fit the USB-C port used to charge it.

At first, I actually feared the Find N5 would feel too thin. In daily use, this largely starts to feel normal, though. It is a big upgrade over existing foldables? That’s hard to argue. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold I’m usually using doesn’t feel remotely cumbersome by comparison, so I think we’re running into the law of diminishing returns.

Find N5 is more than just an impressively thin device, though.

Just like every other Oppo foldable thus far, the company is also delivering a great experience on other aspects. The hinge is very smooth and, despite the thin design, the display crease is virtually non-existent. You can see it in reflections, but this is as good as it gets with the current state of foldables, and I’d honestly be impressed if this continues to get better.

Like the OnePlus Open that preceded it, Find N5 also features the anti-reflective layer for the display that I loved so much, as well as “Boundless View,” which is the ColorOS version of OnePlus’ excellent Open Canvas multitasking feature. ColorOS as a whole is decent too, though I do wish it had the same regional tweaks found in OxygenOS.

Outside of the main hardware, I’ve been very impressed with the battery life of the Oppo Find N5.

The 5,600 mAh battery is huge by foldable standards, especially for such a thin device, and it lasts a long time. I’m easily getting a full day with 30% or more left in the tank. That’s while using the outer display around 65% of the time and the inner display otherwise. Wired charging is fast, though I did notice some hiccups with wireless charging on some chargers, presumably due to coil placement.

What about the cameras?

Historically, foldables have worse cameras compared to other flagship smartphones, and Oppo Find N5 is no exception. This camera is anything but infallible, but it’s not bad either. Good shots have welcome contrast and plenty of life, but it’s not hard to get a bad picture out of this camera. Software processing does a lot of the legwork to salvage most pictures. My biggest problem remains that Oppo refuses to support the double-press gesture for opening the camera, which just leads to me using the camera less overall.

While every foldable has had at least one notable downside, I can’t really think of one with the Oppo Find N5. Outside of the camera being physically limited (yet still decent), this is the foldable that foldables have always wanted to be.

That’s why it’s so annoying that hardly anyone will get to use it.

Oppo teased a “global” launch for Find N5, but the foldable won’t even be released in Europe, heavily restricting who can officially buy it. With the “OnePlus Open 2” not coming this year either, it just feels like a waste. This foldable is nearly perfect and would be a compelling device if only it were released more widely. At least the Honor Magic V3 is more readily available.

What do you think?