On Feb. 20, Chinese phone maker Oppo launched the Find N5, touting it as the world’s thinnest foldable flagship phone, with a body thickness of 8.93mm when folded. As the first foldable device to include the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, the new model in the series also boasts a 5,600mAh battery, 50W wireless fast charging, and comes equipped with DeepSeek R1.
Why it matters: The Oppo Find N5 leads the foldable flagship category into the 8mm-thickness era and integrates full-powered DeepSeek R1, a Chinese AI processing platform that rivals OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Details: The slim profile of the Oppo Find N5 is enabled by its custom-built titanium alloy hinge, according to the company.
- To achieve a thickness of 8.93mm, Oppo uses aerospace-grade titanium alloy 3D printing technology, the company told its launch attendees. The process involves melting the alloy at 1700°C, atomizing the liquid titanium into micron-sized particles with nearly 100% pure inert gas, and then precisely printing the material with a 1700°C high-temperature laser, Oppo explained.
- Furthermore, Oppo said its self-developed titanium alloy hinge has received TÜV Rheinland’s certification for invisible creases, making the Find N5 the world’s first and only foldable phone to earn this certification. The strict standard requires the phone’s crease maximum depth not to exceed 0.15mm after a 14-day test.
- The company claimed that the foldable’s 5,600mAh battery can support up to 8-hour video calls or 24-hour film watching. In addition to featuring the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, the Find N5 will be the first Oppo model to support DeepSeek-R1 for AI functions such as deep thinking and online search.
- The Find N5 is going on sale globally on Feb. 26, priced at RMB 8,999 ($1,241) for the 12GB + 256GB model, and RMB 10,999 ($1,516) for the 16GB + 1TB model (which supports satellite communication).
Context: Currently, the smartphone brands that have confirmed integration with the DeepSeek model include OnePlus, Oppo, Huawei, Honor, Realme, Vivo, Meizu, Lenovo, and ZTE.
- In 2024, the shipment of foldable smartphones in China reached around 9.17 million units, a year-on-year increase of 30.8%, according to market intelligence firm IDC. However, in the fourth quarter of 2024, foldable smartphone shipments declined by 9.6% compared to the same period last year.
- In 2024, Huawei maintained the top spot with nearly 50% market share in China’s foldable smartphone market, followed by Honor at 20.6%, Vivo at 11.1%, Xiaomi at 7.4%, and Oppo at 5.3%, the IDC report suggested.
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