OPPO officially continued to tease the Find N6 foldable phone today, highlighting its resilience. With -20°C extreme cold durability, the brand is claiming you can ‘open and close with confidence in icy and snowy weather.’ Furthermore, the new phone will support IP59, IP58, and IP56 full-level water resistance.
Highlighting the fragility of technology, a previous report by GSMAura revealed that in January of this year, many netizens complained on social media. The issue occurred when they took their foldable phones to travel to cold regions such as Northeast China where temperatures were below zero. Unfortunately, the screens were damaged as soon as they were opened and closed due to the low temperatures.
Unveiling the science of Find N6 behind the fracture
Yan Huaizhi, director of the Institute of Computer Network Attack and Defense Technology at Beijing Institute of Technology, said that the root cause of foldable screen phones being ‘sensitive to cold’ lies in the materials and processes. The core issue is the change in the physical properties of the materials. Specifically, the flexible OLED screen used in foldable screens is composed of multiple layers of polymer materials, organic light-emitting layers, and ultra-thin glass (UTG). Under ultra-low temperature conditions, these materials may be ‘frozen,’ making them prone to breakage when bent, which in turn leads to screen damage.
Based on OPPO’s official teaser, it appears the Find N6 may have solved the challenging problem of opening and closing foldable screen phones in low-temperature environments. While this is promising news for users, the specific applicability still needs further clarification from OPPO to be certain.
