OPPO has set its sights on Apple.

After solidifying its position in the mid-range market, OPPO is now making bold moves once again.

On the evening of February 20, OPPO launched its latest foldable flagship phone, the Find N5. With an ultra-slim profile of 4.21mm when unfolded and 8.93mm when folded, it claims the title of the "thinnest" foldable phone globally, priced starting from 8999 yuan.

Image source: Weibo screenshot

While most manufacturers strive for thinness and lightness in their foldable phones, OPPO's relentless pursuit of the ultimate in slimness is relatively rare. It appears that OPPO aims to showcase its technological prowess and innovation capabilities in the foldable phone segment, further bolstering its competitiveness in the high-end market.

From a pricing perspective, the starting price of 8999 yuan directly targets high-end users, with a pricing strategy that is reasonable yet lacks surprises. "QuJieShangYe" observed that many netizens felt the pricing of the OPPO Find N5 was on the higher side. Some commented, "I would definitely buy it if it started at 7000 yuan," while others said, "The design is great, and the features are impressive, but it's a bit pricey."

Image source: Douyin screenshot

In the foldable phone market, OPPO faces significant challenges in direct competition with Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold series and Huawei's Mate X series. Can OPPO successfully carve out a niche in the high-end market with the Find N5 foldable phone this time around?

01. The 'Balance' of Find N5

In the foldable phone market, achieving thinness and lightness often comes at the expense of practicality, but OPPO Find N5 attempts to strike a new balance between the two.

With features like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, a 5600mAh battery, 80W wired and 50W wireless fast charging, and IPX6, IPX8, IPX9 full-level waterproofing, the phone boasts comprehensive performance and user experience. This product strategy suggests that OPPO prioritizes portability and convenience for daily use over simply stacking specifications.

However, foldable phones inherently face trade-offs between thinness, lightness, durability, heat dissipation, and battery life. Since OPPO has chosen the path of ultimate thinness and lightness, it must necessarily involve a series of compromises.

Image source: OPPO official website screenshot

First, a thin and light body places stringent demands on the hinge structure, screen assembly, and body materials. The Find N5 adopts an innovative titanium alloy hinge design, which is stronger than its predecessor, with significant improvements in durability and stability. However, whether the extreme thinness and lightness design will affect the hinge's longevity and whether creases will deepen over time remain to be seen.

Additionally, the camera system might be a relative weakness of this new phone. Due to the constraints of a thin and light body, the OPPO Find N5 has experienced some downgrades compared to its predecessor, particularly the 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens, which lags behind the previous generation's 48-megapixel imaging specifications. Such adjustments may impact the user's shooting experience.

Image source: Weibo screenshot

Nevertheless, OPPO has equipped the Find N5 with a full suite of algorithms and features befitting its flagship status, aiming for a relatively good imaging experience despite the hardware constraints.

Compared to the previous generations, the OPPO Find N5 has undergone a significant shift in overall product definition, making thinness, durability, and business functionalities of the software system the core selling points, with the imaging function taking a backseat. For users accustomed to using foldable phones for image creation, the downgraded imaging of the Find N5 might be a deterrent.

02. OPPO is "Aiming" at Apple

In the foldable phone market, thinness and lightness are just one aspect, and the overall user experience is equally crucial. Although the OPPO Find N5 has made compromises in the imaging system, it has compensated with system optimization and ecological experience.

At the conference, OPPO dedicated considerable time to the mobile office experience, particularly the Find N5's "remote control computer" function, which achieves seamless integration with Apple's Mac ecosystem. It not only supports password-free login to Mac with the same account but is also equipped with a virtual Mac keyboard and trackpad, making cross-ecosystem integration effortless.

Image source: OPPO official website screenshot

Furthermore, powered by ColorOS and AI, the OPPO Find N5 supports file format conversion and file scanning at will, facilitating easier integration with Apple ecosystem products. It also supports one-sentence application three-screen splitting, and with XiaoBu Assistant integrated with the full-featured version of DeepSeek, it can significantly enhance office efficiency.

For Mac and Android phone users, options for achieving interoperability between the two have long been limited. In the past, HandShaker by Smartisan phones was one of the few options, but since the application has not been updated for years, it is no longer compatible with current mainstream flagship models.

Nowadays, more Android manufacturers are focusing on compatibility issues with Mac, and OPPO's deep integration with the Mac ecosystem this time to provide a seamless cross-platform collaboration experience fills this market gap.

More importantly, as Huawei's Mate X series is deeply integrated into the HarmonyOS ecosystem and Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold series forms a productivity loop relying on the One UI ecosystem, OPPO has chosen a different path by targeting Apple user groups. This strategy not only helps OPPO find a new differentiated direction in the foldable phone market but also gives it an opportunity to penetrate into a broader group of high-end business users, particularly those accustomed to using Mac but unwilling to be completely tied to the Apple ecosystem.

Image source: CanTouTuKu

Regarding accusations of "poaching from Apple," OPPO is not evasive. Previously, OPPO's Chief Product Officer Liu Zuohu bluntly stated, "We want to convert Apple users. To put it bluntly, we want to give Apple users another option."

Overall, the Find N5 attempts to tap into the high-end user market through its ultra-slim design, comprehensive hardware configuration, and Mac integration experience. Despite compromises in imaging and other areas, this foldable flagship phone still strikes a balance in core experiences. However, competition in the high-end phone market has never been solely about hardware. Whether the OPPO Find N5 can truly win market recognition will require time to verify.

But it is certain that this foldable phone is not merely a demonstration of OPPO's capabilities; it is a crucial step for OPPO in entering the high-end foldable phone market. However, the path to achieving high-end status is bound to be challenging.