Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 vs Oppo Find N: How does Samsung’s improved foldable fare against 2021’s best foldable hardware?

For most people in the world, if they want a foldable phone, it’s Samsung or nothing. But if you live in China, or you are an enthusiast open to importing, then you have other options.

And these options aren’t also-rans. They arguably have been pushing foldable innovations at a faster pace than Samsung’s Fold series. Let’s take a look at how Samsung’s newest Galaxy Z Fold 4 compares against arguably 2021’s best foldable hardware, the Oppo Find N.

Samsung	Oppo
CPU	Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1	Snapdragon 888
Dimensions and weight	Folded: 67.1 x 155.1 x 14.2- 15.8mm Unfolded: 130.1 x 155.1 x 6.3mm 263g	Folded: 132.6 x 73 x 15.9 mm Unfolded: 132.6 x 140.2 x 8.0 mm 275g
Display	Inner display: 7.6-inch QXGA+ Dynamic -AMOLED 2X Display 22.5:18 aspect ratio 2208 x 1768 120Hz Cover display: 6.2-inch HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display 24.5:9 aspect ratio 2268 x 832 120Hz	Inner display: 7.1″ flexible OLED with UTG 1792 x 1920 120Hz refresh rate Cover display: 5.5″ AMOLED screen 988 x 1972 60Hz refresh rate 18:9 aspect ratio
Camera	12MP ultra-wide, f/2.2 ultra-wide, FoV 123-degree 50MP wide, f/1.8, Dual Pixel AF, OIS 10MP telephoto, 3x optical zoom 10MP front-facing selfie camera 4MP front-facing under-screen selfie camera	50 MP wide, f/1.8, 24mm (wide), 1/1.56″ 16 MP ultra-wide f/2.2, 14mm (ultra-wide), 123˚ 13 MP, 2X telephoto f/2.4, 52mm (telephoto), 1/3.4″
Memory	12GB RAM, 256GB/512GB UFS 3.1 storage	12GB RAM, 256GB/512GB UFS 3.1 storage
Battery	4,400mAh dual battery	4,500mAh
Network	LTE: Enhanced 4X4 MIMO, 7CA, LAA, LTE Cat. 20 5G
Water Resistance	IPX8	None
Sensors	Capacitive fingerprint sensor (side), Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyro sensor, Geomagnetic sensor, Hall sensor (analog), Proximity sensor, Light sensor, Wacom layer for stylus input	Capacitive fingerprint sensor (side), Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyro sensor, Geomagnetic sensor
OS	Android 12L with One UI on top	Android 12 with ColorOS on top
Colors	Blue, Silver, Black	Blue, grey (vegan leather)
Price	Starts at $1,799	Starts at 8,201 yuan (around $1,200)

Note: All photos showing both phones side-by-side are of the Oppo Find N and the Galaxy Z Fold 3. As I am currently on the road, I do not have access to both devices at the same time. But considering that the Fold 3 and Fold 4 look almost identical save for a couple of mm in height and width, the photos will still give you a good idea of scale. Any photo showing just Samsung’s foldable is of the Galaxy Z Fold 4.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 vs Oppo Find N: Design and Hardware

Both devices are inner folding devices, a design pioneered by Samsung. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is quite a bit taller, with a 7.6-inch, 10.8:9 aspect ratio main display compared to the Find N’s 7.1-inch, 8.4:9 aspect ratio main screen.

These aspect ratios mean the Fold 4’s main screen is an upright rectangle while the Find N’s screen is a sideways rectangle. Oppo reasons its wider landscape style main screen is more ideal for consuming videos, but most Android apps display better in portrait orientation, so they tend to fit Samsung’s upright rectangle shape better.

When folded, the Find N is very compact, with a 5.5-inch, 18:9 screen compared to the Fold 4’s 6.2-inch, 23.1:9 screen. Oppo’s aspect ratio is much closer to a typical smartphone, so when it comes to the outside display, it is the Find N that will display apps more properly. Do not the photo below shows the Find N next to a Z Fold 3, not the newest Z Fold 4. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is slightly shorter and wider, but for the most part, the Z Fold 4 will still tower over the Find N like so.

Each phone trade blows in other hardware bits. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 supports an official IPX8 water resistance rating (meaning it can be submerged in water and survive) while the Find N has no such official rating. The Z Fold 4 also supports the S-Pen stylus, though that requires an additional purchase.

The Find N, however, can fold entirely flat, without leaving a gap at the folding point the way Samsung’s foldables do. And the Find N’s main screen doesn’t have a hard crease thanks to a “waterdrop” hinge design that allows the screen to fold at a less harsh angle. There is still a slight crease on the Find N screen, it’s just a lot less noticeable than the harsh crease in the Galaxy Z Fold 4.

Both hinges can stay in place mid-fold, allowing the phones to work as a mini laptop of sorts. This ingenious feature was pioneered by Samsung, so it deserves credit. This feature is an absolute game changer for me, as I often use these foldables to take hands-free video calls or selfies.

SoC, memory, and battery

Since the Find N came out last year, it runs on the older Snapdragon 888 compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1. The newer chip is obviously better, but exactly how much depends on your usage. The most important thing to note is the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 is more energy efficient, so it should bring better battery life than the Find N in theory, considering both phones have similar battery sizes.

However, my own testing with the Find N yielded excellent battery life, and I haven’t had the chance to do the same testing with the Fold 4 yet. Both phones run on 12GB of RAM and come with either 256GB or 512GB of storage.

Cameras

Both the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Find N pack a triple-lens main system headlined by a 50MP main camera with a 1/1.55-inch image sensor. They are different sensors, however, with the Find N using Sony’s IMX766 and the Fold 4 using Samsung’s own GN5. Performance is very similar between these two sensors, however, as they’re direct competitors, both capturing pixel-binned 12.5MP shots. Photos captured by the main cameras of both are going to be vibrant and well-detailed, with even a bit of natural bokeh if you get close enough to a subject. These aren’t ultimate tip-top flagship sensors, but very good ones anyway.

For ultra-wide, the Fold 4 uses a 12MP f/2.2 shooter to the Find N’s 16MP, also f/2.2 ultra-wide. Samsung takes the lead in zoom photography here, with a 10MP f.2.4 telephoto that can produce 3X optical zoom compared to the Find N’s 13MP 2X telephoto. A dedicated lens for just 2X zoom seems weak in this day and age when slab phones can produce clean 5X or even 10X zoom shots.

The selfie front favors Oppo: the Find N packs a pair of 32MP selfie shooters on each screen, and both are good front-facing cameras. The Fold 4, meanwhile, uses a just decent 10MP selfie camera on the outside screen and a 4MP “under-display” selfie camera on the main screen that produces very soft image quality due to it being placed underneath the OLED panel. However, some people may prefer this as it gives the Fold 4’s main screen a more uninterrupted look.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 vs Oppo Find N: Software

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Oppo Find N both run on Android 12, but Samsung’s foldable is running on Android 12L, which is a version of Android optimized for larger screens. This makes the Galaxy Z Fold 4’s version of Android a bit better suited to handle the odd aspect ratio of foldable phones. In fact, even before Android 12L, Samsung’s OneUI was already doing a better job than Oppo’s ColorOS in dealing with changing screen sizes. This shouldn’t be a surprise, considering that Samsung has made eight foldables now while Oppo has just one.

And for a debut foldable offering, the Find N’s software is not bad at all — it’s just not as polished as Samsung’s. Oppo did introduce some intuitive gestures, like swiping down the middle of an app to trigger split-screen mode, or swiping up an app higher than usual to launch it into a small floating window. To do the same window mode with an app on the Z Fold 4 requires two taps and a long-press.

Oppo’s ColorOS also has zippier animations than Samsung’s OneUI. Even though both phones have 120Hz main screens, animations just feel faster and smoother on the Oppo Find N. But this benefit is purely aesthetic. The bottom line is the Fold 4 can just do more, such as open three apps at the same time while the Find N cannot, and output a desktop window setup to an external monitor (Samsung calls it DeX mode).

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 vs Oppo Find N: Performance

The Oppo Find N is an absolute fine performer even today, but as already mentioned, the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 is a notable superior chip to previous Qualcomm SoCs, so the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is just more capable. Battery life should run a bit longer, and any intensive tasks like rendering videos or playing graphically intensive games will run better on a Fold 4 than a Find N. The Fold 4’s software is also more optimized to do things like multitasking, with fewer app scaling issues.

However, do note that all of the above are more power user demands. If your phone usage is more basic, like just reading words on a website, scrolling through Instagram, and taking the occasional selfies and basic indoor photos, it’s not like you’ll miss that extra power the Fold 4 offers. And I want to make clear that the Find N’s battery life is not bad either — the phone can comfortably go a full 13-hour day for me, which the older Galaxy Z Fold 3 could not do. However, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 should be able to surpass this, given the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1’s very impressive battery life in other devices I’ve tested so far.

As a media consumption device, the Find N’s wider aspect ratio displays movies and most videos with less letterboxing than Samsung’s Fold 4, but the former has two bottom-firing speakers while the latter has more symmetrical speakers on top and bottom for fuller audio.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 vs Oppo Find N: Which foldable is more impressive?

This last section in these comparison articles is usually titled “which one should you buy,” but in this case, that point is moot, because most people should just buy the Galaxy Z Fold 4 due to much wider availability. You’ll have a warranty and after-sales service that you likely won’t get for the Find N (unless you are in China). Plus Samsung has some very enticing Fold 4 deals right now.

If you do want to import the Oppo Find N, the good news is the phone was reasonably priced even at launch months ago (about $1,200 after conversion from its original 9,999 yuan), and the price has dropped a bit since. This means even if you pay the usual import markup, this is a phone that you should be able to get for under $1,500 — still lower than what Samsung’s asking for the Fold 4.

But you should just get the Fold 4, because of the aforementioned reasons and the newer chipset. The Oppo Find N is a very interesting device though, and at the time of release, it definitely offered much more impressive hardware than the Galaxy Z Fold 3 at the time. But Samsung has since made improvements to the Fold 4, so now the gap between the two isn’t that far off.