Forget Google and Samsung — this is the phone I'm most excited about

As I'm still trying to gather myself after writing my longest review ever, OPPO is over here making me forget all about the Galaxy S25 Ultra. In less than two weeks, the OPPO Find N5 is being officially unveiled during a "Global Launch Event."

But that's not why I'm excited. I'm excited for the Find N5 to be unveiled so that we can be one step closer to the OnePlus Open 2 finally being introduced.

I've owned or reviewed every Galaxy Z Fold phone since the Z Fold 2, which has already made me rethink the way I use phones. Instead of being confined to a rectangle of varying sizes only to move over to a tablet or laptop when I need more screen space, a foldable phone gives me the best of both worlds.

I carried a Z Fold with me every day for years, upgrading as soon as I could. However, the OnePlus Open made me rethink the way that I view foldable phones. Seeing as I don't have access to alternatives from Xiaomi, Vivo, or Huawei, the OnePlus Open opened my eyes to a whole new world.

And I think it might happen again.

Admittedly, I would be lying if I were to sit here and say that I wasn't disappointed that OnePlus and OPPO skipped 2024. But it's also a rumored decision that I was happy to see come to fruition. That's because the OnePlus Open is still just that darn good. Plus, it's not like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 really offered that much of an upgrade over the Gen 2.

It has a camera system that still holds up, a software experience that stands out from the pack, and an excellent design. Frankly, if it weren't for Google starting from scratch with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, the Open might have never been removed from my daily carry. Even still, when you look at the Z Fold 6, 9 Pro Fold, and Open, most people probably wouldn't be able to guess that the Open is the oldest of the bunch.

The way things are looking with all of the OPPO Find N5 leaks and teasers, we're in for something truly special. I've been doing this long enough that I don't get all that excited as soon as the first leaks and rumors hit the scene. However, all bets are off when teasers start coming from the company, whether it's directly or from the CEO.

This is exactly what's happened with the Find N5, as Liu Zuohu, Chief Product Officer at OPPO, kicked things off with a picture of an unfolded Find N5 next to a sharpened pencil. Then, a teaser video was published on Weibo that strategically showed us just how thin the phone really is.

A few days later, OPPO CEO Pete Lau went straight for Samsung as they shared two images of the Find N5 and Z Fold 6 with the screens unfolded. The point of this was to provide a comparison of the display crease, one area where Samsung has fallen far behind the competition.

Since then, we've been getting daily teasers, one of which confirmed the Find N5 will sport an IPX9 water resistance rating, all before revealing that the Global Launch Event will take place on February 20.

There isn't much that we don't already know about the Find N5 or that can at least be surmised based on leaks and what we've seen from phones released over the past few months. However, one area of intrigue is in the kinds of upgrades we will see from the camera system.

While the OnePlus Open camera hardware still holds up today, I'm really hoping that we don't end up with subpar cameras. Unfortunately, that's likely what we'll get. A recent leak suggests that the Find N5 will feature a 50MP main camera, an 8MP "secondary lens, and another 50-megapixel sensor, which could be a 3x periscope telephoto camera."

For reference, the original OnePlus Open offers dual 48MP sensors for the main and ultrawide cameras, in addition to a 64MP 3x periscope telephoto lens. On paper, the leaked Find N5 specks don't leave me feeling great, but maybe we'll end up with some of the camera magic that the OnePlus 13 introduced. And even if the leaked camera specs are real, I have no doubt that the Find N5/Open 2 will still provide better images than what you can get out of the Z Fold 6.

Besides that, the Find N5 is set to become the first foldable phone to be released with the Snapdragon 8 Elite. It's expected to be paired with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, providing ample horsepower. We're also likely to see a 5,600mAh battery, which seems impossible, given how thin the Find N5 is. All while supporting 80W wired charging and 50W wireless charging speeds, blowing both Samsung and Google out of the water.

Although OnePlus hasn't started teasing its next foldable phone just yet, I surmise that will change soon or perhaps after the Find N5 is introduced. For someone who's already excited about what the Open 2 could offer, I'm expecting my hype levels to be going through the roof. Now I just have to play the waiting game.

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