Oppo intends to invest more in the segment of folding smartphones. The brand confirms that it is working on both “flip” (valve) and “fold” (book) type formats, and intends to offer its new products on the European market.
Oppo’s news is busy for this back to school, since it includes both a Reno 8 series with three smartphones (Reno 8, Reno 8 Pro and Reno 8 Lite), but also its first tablet available in Europe – the Pad Air — and a connected bracelet, the Band 2. And yet, as always, it is the absences that stand out the most. And in the case of the Chinese brand, that of its first folding smartphone, the Find N, is obvious.
Billy Zhang, vice president of sales and services at Oppo, however, indulged in a short teaser on this subject. If, almost a year after its release, the Find N has no chance of being marketed outside Chinese borders, its successor will be. “certainly” — impossible for the person in charge to be more affirmative at the present time. More interestingly, Billy Zhang confirms that “flip and fold formats are the future” innovations in terms of smartphone formats, and that Oppo is working on these form factors clamshell and book type. And to promise that not only will the brand’s next devices have a thinner hinge, but that they will also be lighter on the scale.
It will be recalled in this respect that the hinge of the Find N, which we had taken in hand at the beginning of the year, is designed in such a way as to completely close the smartphone, with no space between the two parts of its screen, and that the bulge on its slab remains discreet. But its weight is 275 grams, which makes it too large a model for many users.
Regarding the release date of future folding smartphones, we must be satisfied with the evocation of a “near future”. Their presentation could therefore take place in December, which traditionally hosts Oppo’s Inno Day during which the brand presents its technological innovations.