It sure looks like 2023 will witness a big leap in foldable phone technology. Interestingly, it won’t be Samsung at the helm, despite kickstarting the foldable phone trend back in 2019. Instead, it will be China’s Oppo, and its sister brand, OnePlus.
Earlier today, OnePlus founder and product chief at Oppo, Pete Lau, shared a few images of the upcoming Find N5 alongside a Samsung Galaxy smartphone. The focus is on the crease, or to put it more accurately, an almost non-existent crease on the Oppo phone and the deep ridge visible on Samsung’s foldable phone.
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“No crease detected,” wrote Lau. It’s an impressive showcase, as virtually every foldable phone in the market serves a crease compromise. Compared to the early days of foldable phones, the likes of Samsung have made fantastic progress with the underlying Ultrathin Glass (layer).
Pete Lau / LinkedIn
However, the foldable panel still can’t quite shake off the visible crease. It sticks out as an eyesore, especially against dark backgrounds or when the brightness levels are on the lower side. And you definitely feel the vertically recessed line with your fingertips.
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The crease isn’t just a poor sight, but it’s also a functional hazard. The first sign of pixel damage on the inner flexible screen usually appears alongside the display crease of foldable phones.
The Oppo Find N5 seems poised to solve that nagging problem, as is evident from the pictures shared by Lau. Will it maintain a crease-less look after a few months of usage? Only time will tell.
But there’s a lot more to feel excited about this phone, ahead of its global debut two weeks from now. It will be the world’s first foldable to provide IPX6, IPX8, and IPX9 full-grade waterproofing.
Pete Lau / LinkedIn
The Oppo Find N5 will also come armed with Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC and will also support 50W wireless charging. And did I mention that it will do all that while hitting the shelves as the world’s slimmest foldable phone? Yeah, that too.
As per leaks, it will be only 4.2mm across in its unfolded state, thinner than even iPad Apple’s M4 iPad Pro. It is not going to land in the US market, but will most likely get rebadged as the OnePlus Open 2 for stateside customers.
Oppo / Weibo
Samsung will reportedly take a tamer (read: laggard) approach to foldable phones this year. The upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 7 will likely arrive as a rebadged version of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 Special Edition, which was introduced in China a few months ago.
It is slimmer, but doesn’t offer any other notable upgrades. On the topic of slimmer phones, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge will soon land in the market, challenging Apple’s own slim warrior that is rumored to wear the iPhone 17 Air badge and is set to arrive in the Fall season.
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