New Delhi: Oppo took the wraps off a foldable smartphone that’s more than $500 cheaper than Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy Fold, launching its maiden attempt to stake out a spot in the nascent category.
The Oppo Find N sports a 7.1-inch inner display co-developed with its Korean rival and an exterior 5.5-inch screen. It will start at 7,999 yuan ($1,250) in China from Dec. 23, undercutting the $1,799 Galaxy Z Fold 3. Like the latest iPhones, the inner display of the Find N has an adaptable refresh rate, speeding up when necessary and slowing with static images to preserve battery. Oppo says it has almost no crease in the inner fold, a big distinction from its pricier competitor.
Consumers have been slow to adopt foldable phones, one of the industry’s biggest innovations of past years, in part because of high price tags and variable quality. Apple Inc. has so far avoided the category while Samsung and Huawei Technologies Co. have offered devices as far back as 2019. Lenovo Group Ltd.’s Motorola joined the race in 2020 with a foldable version of its classic Razr, but it too showed signs of being premature.
