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Oppo Flip Phone: Using the Find N2 Flip’s Huge Cover Screen

Oppo’s Find N2 Flip has the largest vertical cover screen on any flip phone.

Oppo’s first flip phone has arrived. The Chinese company showed off the Find N2 Flip at its global launch event on Wednesday. Oppo’s clamshell-style phone appears to be heavily inspired by Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 4, but with a notably different cover screen and perhaps a more squarish design.

Unlike the Z Flip 4, the cover display has a vertical orientation, as opposed to a horizontal layout. It’s also much bigger, measuring 3.26 inches with a resolution of 720×382 pixels. By comparison, the Z Flip 4 has a 1.9-inch external display with 260×512-pixel resolution. In fact, the Find N2 Flip has the largest vertical cover screen on any flip phone.

Apart from the display, the Find N2 Flip has all the features you’d expect from a flip phone in 2023. There are two rear cameras, led by a 50-megapixel lens, a 32-megapixel front-facing camera, a capable processor (MediaTek Dimensity 9000 Plus) and a 4,300-mAh battery, which can be fast-charged at up to 44 watts. There’s no IP rating for water- or dust-resistance. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 has an IPX8 rating, which means it’s also more of an indoor device: It can withstand water immersion but has no official protection against dust.

The Find N2 Flip will be available to pre-order from today and will start at 849 in UK. There are no plans currently for a US release, but this phone is set to hit stores in parts of Europe and Asia.

Find N2 Flip’s cover screen is the biggest display on any flip phone

It’s commendable that Oppo dared to shake up the design of the cover screen on flip phones. Although this might not look as aesthetically elegant as the Galaxy Z Flip 4’s horizontal screen, I believe the Find N2 Flip’s cover screen has the potential for greater functionality. After all, it does boast the largest vertical cover screen on any flip phone.

I found it convenient to use the Find N2 Flip’s cover screen to quickly scan the weather without needing to open up the phone as I went about my day. All I had to do was swipe left, and the cover screen would display my chosen widgets, including the camera, a timer, the weather and the recorder. I wish Google Calendar was included on the list of the widgets — I could still receive notifications from it, but I couldn’t view my plans from the cover screen.

Navigation is simple. You can swipe down the cover screen to bring up the control panel, swipe up to see a list of notifications and swipe left to bring up different widgets.

The camera widget lets you use the cover screen as a viewfinder, allowing you to take selfies, take portrait photos and even shoot video without opening up the phone. Thanks to the larger screen size, you get a good idea of how the photo will turn out as you’re taking the photo.

Quick replies — also available on the Z Flip 4 — are another convenient feature on this device. When I received a Whatsapp message, I could simply reply from the cover screen by choosing from a set of prewritten templates. I also had the option to create my own message template. In addition to WhatsApp, the quick replies feature is available on Slack, Messenger, Telegram and Line. Like the Galaxy Z Flip 4, this phone doesn’t allow you to type or dictate a reply without opening up the phone. You’re limited to the templates.

In its current form, however, the Find N2 Flips cover screen has limited functionality compared to the one on the Motorola’s Razr 2020. The Razr 2020 serves up a full keyboard for typing, curates apps that are well suited for the cover screen, such as Gmail and YouTube, and it even lets you play PUBG. I wish the cover display on the Oppo offered such freedoms and utility, but there certainly is potential if Oppo manages to nail the software component.

Find N2 Flip camera

There are two rear cameras on this phone, consisting of a 50-megapixel main camera and an 8-megapixel ultrawide. While this phone has respectable cameras, don’t expect it to take crisp shots of faraway subjects. In fact, images tend to soften when you zoom in digitally by around 5x. To be fair, you’re not likely to be buying this phone for its camera or its zoom skills (there’s no telephoto camera), but for its compact and approachable design. Taking that into account, I found the photos respectable. You can see the camera in action here.

Find N2 Flip’s inner display has a slight crease

The inner display of the Find N2 flip takes the form of a 6.8-inch AMOLED panel. At first glance, you might not see any crease running across the screen, but sometimes it’ll appear in certain angles or in bright lighting conditions. You can also feel it on occasion. For the most part, however, the crease didn’t interfere with my user experience and it’s by no means a deal-breaker for me. After all, the display looked crisp, was responsive and reasonably bright in sunny conditions.

It also has a 120Hz refresh rate, which made navigating between apps and scrolling through news feeds a smooth experience. This year, Oppo has updated its hinge, which the company says is smaller and thinner, yet stronger than the one on its predecessor. According to the company, Find N2 Flip has been tested for 400,000 folds. Oppo says the display also has an ultrathin glass coating that should help with durability.

For more details on the Oppo Find N2 Flip, take a look at the specs chart below.

Technologies

Apple Launches Creator Studio Package as $13 a Month Subscription

Mac users can still buy the apps individually, but subscribers get access to Final Cut Pro and other Studio tools.

Apple is bundling its pro filmmaking and audio tools including Final Cut Pro with its productivity apps Keynote, Pages and Numbers into a subscription software suite called Apple Creator Studio.

The package, which includes apps for Mac, iPad and iPhone, includes Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, MainStage and the whiteboard app Freeform. Creator Studio will be available starting Jan. 28 at a cost of $13 per month or $129 per year, or $3 per month or $30 per year for students and educators. Mac users will still have the option to purchase software like Final Cut Pro for a one-time free. The current price for Final Cut Pro in the Mac App Store is $300.

While apps such as Keynote and Pages are already free on Apple platforms, it appears that new versions of those apps will receive access to beta features that will roll out first to Creator Studio subscribers. The announcement by Apple alludes to «new AI features and premium content» in some of the apps it otherwise makes available to use for free.

What the Creator Studio bundle comes with

The star of the show in Creator Studio is Final Cut Pro, the video editing software that will now include Transcript Search on both Mac and iPad. There is also a new Beat Detection feature Apple says uses an AI model to analyze a music track and display a beat grid, making it easier to cut video to music rhythms. The software also will include a new Montage Maker on iPad for quick social video creation.

Motion, the 2D and 3D graphics tool, and Compressor also integrate with Final Cut Pro. Apple touted Motion’s Magnetic Mask feature for isolating objects or people without the need for a green screen.

Logic Pro has new features for musicians, including a Synth Player addition to AI Session Players. Chord ID, a new AI feature, can create chord progressions from audio or MIDI recordings. A new Sound Library will have hundreds of royalty-free clips, samples and loops.

A revamped MainStage app gives subscribers access to instrument, voice-professing and guitar rig tools. Pixelmator Pro arrives with new tools and filters, and there will be an iPad version in addition to the Mac tool.

Freeform in the Creator Studio package will add premium content, including curated photos, graphics and illustrations. It will also get new AI features that include image creation.

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Technologies

Reddit Outage Resolved: Here’s What Happened

Did you have trouble reading your favorite subreddits today? You weren’t alone.

If you had trouble accessing the news and discussion forum Reddit on Tuesday, you weren’t the only one. However, as of 10:15 a.m. PT, the site appears to be back up and running normally. Reddit’s status monitoring page, RedditStatus.com, notes that «all systems (are) operational» after the brief outage.

But earlier, at 9:30 a.m. PT, RedditStatus.com said the company was «investigating elevated errors across reddit.com and native apps.» RedditStatus.com reported degraded site performance for both desktop web use and native mobile apps.

Earlier on Tuesday, the site-monitoring service DownDetector also reported issues at Reddit, providing additional details. At one point on Tuesday, DownDetector received over 100,000 reports that the site was having problems. At 10:25 am PT, the report numbers fell to under 600. (Disclosure: Downdetector is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)


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«Reddit is currently experiencing a significant internal outage causing widespread service disruptions,» the site said earlier Tuesday. «The impact is categorized as Very High, primarily affecting mobile app access (55%) and website connectivity (39%). While reports are heavily concentrated in major hubs like New York City and Chicago, the lack of ISP correlation suggests a broad, nationwide issue stemming from Reddit’s internal servers rather than external network providers.»

A representative for Reddit did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Another social media site, X, formerly Twitter, also showed problems on Tuesday, according to DownDetector. Those problems seemed to spike around 6:30 a.m. PT and improve after.

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Technologies

This 3-in-1 Charger Is a Must-Have for Travelers, and It Just Hit a Record-Low of $95

Snag it for $45 off and charge your iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch at the same time.

If you’re a frequent traveler, then you know that outlets are a precious commodity in places like airports and coffee shops. So why waste one on a single device when you can charge up to three at once? Right now, you can grab this seriously sleek Ugreen Magflow three-in-one foldable charger for just $95 at Amazon. That’s a $45 discount and the all-time lowest price we’ve seen. Just don’t wait too long, as this deal could expire at any time.

At just 7.4 ounces, this compact charging station is designed to be taken on the go. But despite its size, it still supports 25-watt MagSafe charging for iPhones, as well as 5-watt wireless charging for AirPods and Apple Watches. The charging stand also tilts up to double as a stand, and it’s equipped with 16 magnets to keep your phone aligned and securely in place. Plus, it’s got built-in protections against overheating, overcharging, short-circuiting and more to prevent damage to your devices.

Why this deal matters

This folding Ugreen charger is great for juicing up your devices on the go, and it’s never been more affordable. Plus, Ugreen makes some of the best MagSafe chargers on the market right now, so don’t miss your chance to grab one at a record-low price.

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