This new foldable phone may have upstaged Apple in the ‘zero-crease’ wars

Oppo’s Find N6 isn’t fully creaseless, but it’s close.

For some time now, reporting around Apple’s folding phone has coalesced around two beliefs: the device is set to drop this fall, and it will have a significantly less visible display crease than previous folding devices.

That sounds like a typically Apple feature to prioritize, and it could well explain why the company is late to the category. Folding phones are cool, but the creases in their inner screens are undeniable imperfections. Whether it’s capacity with music players, user interface with smartphones, or the overall form factor with tablets, Apple tends to avoid making products with clear compromises in their defining elements.

But is it even possible to make a crease-free folding phone? There are huge engineering challenges to making a phone with a glass display that bends back and forth and flattens seamlessly, much less one that stays that way over time.

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Well, a new phone announced today might well have upstaged Apple. Oppo, one of China’s biggest phone brands, has revealed details of how its Find N6 is addressing the crease; a full launch will follow next week.

I thought last year’s Find N5 was the best foldable phone on the market, at least if you could get your hands on it—Oppo only sold it in China and South East Asia. At launch it was the thinnest smartphone available anywhere, and Oppo made some bold claims about its “almost invisible” crease. That was broadly true unless you turned the screen off or tried to use the phone outside; you could also still physically feel the crease in the middle of the panel.

This time Oppo is marketing the Find N6 as having a “Zero-Feel Crease.” I’ve been using this phone for a week, and I would still say “zero” is an exaggeration—but only a slight one.

The N6’s screen is a big improvement on the N5’s, which was already well ahead of competitors. The crease is very difficult to see unless you’re really looking for it, and it’s also hard to feel in actual use. It’s clearly there if you press deeply against the screen and run your finger across it, but this is the first time I’ve felt like it was truly unobtrusive and unlikely to ever bother me in a real-world situation.

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