What you need to know
- OPPO's chief product officer and founder of OnePlus, Pete Lau, showed off some old design concepts for the Find N3.
- The previous iterations showed a design with the same form factor but with a thick silver stripe running vertically up its left side with company branding.
- Rumors claim that OPPO is skipping 2024 and will instead look to 2025 to launch its next foldable.
The development of many things goes through multiple iterations and OPPO's recent book-style foldable is no exception.
The Chinese OEM's chief product officer, Pete Lau, posted some photos of what could've been the 2023 Find N3. The images show off the device's form factor in three colorways, but there's one notable design difference: a thick, shimmering silver border. One user commented that the border pushes the device toward a "retro camera" vibe.
The border the design team previously chased featured OPPO and Hasselblad's branding etched vertically within it. The large, circular camera array eclipsed the silver stripe and featured the LED flash at the top left.
Additionally, the typical "H" representing Hasselblad's involvement in developing the camera systems was missing. The company was also interested in a totally different color scheme involving black, navy blue, and (perhaps) a deep olive hue.
Lau thanked OPPO's engineers and industrial engineers for these designs, despite them not making the final cut. Regarding the past designs, Lau stated, "the innovation and dedication behind them keep pushing us ahead."
Hats off to our engineers and industrial designers, who consistently blend unwavering dedication with our product vision. They don't just refine and optimize user experiences—they also keep pushing the envelope, developing new techniques to make our products even better. Even… pic.twitter.com/9TMi5IIqwESeptember 11, 2024
OPPO launched a foldable duo in October 2023, which featured the design the design team opted to go for with the Find N3. Instead of the thick silver stripe, the book-style device features a clean back panel in black or champagne gold. The former branding tucked inside that border was shifted as "OPPO" was placed at the bottom of the device with the Hasselblad "H" inside the camera housing.
The company had a Find N3 option with a vegan leather back option, too. It's also worth mentioning that OPPO's foldable underwent an extreme redesign from the Find N2 to the Find N3, as the former offered a raised, rectangular camera array.
What's next for OPPO is likely the Find N5, but that might not happen this year. Rumors claim that the company is taking a raincheck on 2024, pushing its next foldable launch into an unknown date in 2025. OPPO and OnePlus are sister companies, so if one delays its book-style foldable, the other will likely do the same.
The OnePlus Open was, after all, incredibly similar to OPPO's Find N3 in every way.
