February 2024 Smartphone Market: OPPO Find N5, Xiaomi 15 Ultra, Huawei Pocket 3, and More Vie for Market Share

February 2024 Smartphone Market: OPPO Find N5, Xiaomi 15 Ultra, Huawei Pocket 3, and More Vie for Market ShareFebruary is always a bustling month for the smartphone market. On one hand, many flagship phones choose to launch at the beginning of the year, symbolizing a prosperous start

February 2024 Smartphone Market: OPPO Find N5, Xiaomi 15 Ultra, Huawei Pocket 3, and More Vie for Market Share

February is always a bustling month for the smartphone market. On one hand, many flagship phones choose to launch at the beginning of the year, symbolizing a prosperous start. On the other hand, flagship and sub-flagship models released late last year often receive price cuts, hoping to entice consumers to treat themselves with their New Year's money or bonuses. Digital influencer "Digital Chat Station" on Weibo revealed that several highly anticipated new phones will be released in February, including the already announced OPPO Find N5 foldable phone, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra imaging flagship, the Huawei Pocket 3 small foldable phone, and several cost-effective mid-range flagship models. Smartphone manufacturers are pulling out all the stops to empty consumers' wallets. Let's analyze some of the most anticipated new releases in February.

OPPO Find N5: The First Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy Foldable Phone

More than a year after the OPPO Find N3, its successor, the OPPO Find N5, is finally here. Compared to its predecessor, the OPPO Find N5 mainly improves in terms of body materials, structure, and thinness. OPPO's preview video shows that the Find N5's unfolded thickness is less than that of five ID cards. It's estimated to be approximately 4mm unfolded and 9mm folded, making it remarkably thin and light.

In terms of configuration, the Find N5 directly uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, becoming the world's first foldable phone to feature this chip. Notably, according to previously leaked benchmark scores, this Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip removes one performance core, adopting a configuration of two super-large cores and five large cores. It's speculated that this is due to the Find N5's extreme thinness; reducing a performance core allows for more balanced power consumption and reduces heat generation during daily use. Since two super-large cores are retained, performance in gaming scenarios shouldn't be significantly reduced.

For imaging, the Find N5 is expected to adopt a familiar triple-camera setup: main camera + ultra-wide-angle + periscope telephoto. Considering the excellent imaging performance of its predecessor, the Find N5's overall imaging capabilities are highly anticipated. Furthermore, OPPO's signature LivePhoto and retro filters are well-loved by consumers; hopefully, OPPO will bring more innovative features to the Find N5.

In short, the OPPO Find N5 is expected to be one of the most balanced horizontal foldable phones in the first half of the year, with flagship-level performance, imaging, and battery life. Coupled with a new 3D-printed titanium alloy hinge, improvements in crease control are also anticipated.

Xiaomi 15 Ultra: Xiaomi's Strongest Imaging Flagship Focusing on Telephoto

At the end of last year, a batch of new phones equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and Dimensity 9400 mobile platforms were released. Although these flagship models each have their own characteristics, they still fall short for users seeking the ultimate mobile imaging experience. It is reported that Xiaomi, vivo, and OPPO's imaging flagships will be released successively in the first half of 2025, with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra leading the charge.

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra continues the quad-camera setup of its predecessor, with the main camera still being the Sony IMX989, featuring a 1-inch large sensor and 50-megapixel effective pixels. The specifications of the ultra-wide-angle and 3x telephoto sensors have changed, but whether it's an improvement or a downgrade is currently unknown. The biggest highlight is a new periscope telephoto lensthe Samsung HP9. Those familiar with imaging flagships will recognize the HP9 sensor; first used in the vivo X100 Ultra, it has 200 million effective pixels and a 1/1.4-inch large sensor, with an estimated equivalent focal length of approximately 85mm.

In recent years, the telephoto lens has become one of the most important hardware configurations in the mobile phone imaging field. Although many manufacturers have tried to use AI large models to assist in ultra-telephoto imaging, physical hardware is equally crucial. Therefore, upgrading from the IMX858 to the HP9, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra significantly improves the light-gathering area, pixel count, and focal length of its telephoto capabilities. Of course, this will also lead to a redesign of the rear camera arrangement, resulting in a more prominent camera bump than the Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

It's worth noting that the Xiaomi 15 Ultra will also be equipped with a new self-developed Surge chip, whose specific function is still unclear. Previously, Xiaomi has developed charging, power management, independent display, imaging, signal, and fast-charging chips. If this new self-developed chip is still an ISP, Xiaomi's room for maneuver seems limited.

As the first imaging flagship to be released this year, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra boasts impressive overall specifications, especially the upgrade to its telephoto capabilities, which will satisfy many mobile imaging enthusiasts. However, apart from imaging, other configurations are not significantly different from the Xiaomi 15 Pro. If users don't require extreme imaging capabilities, the Xiaomi 15 Pro, released after the Lunar New Year, might be a better choice.

Huawei Pocket 3: The Lightest, Strongest Pocket Series Yet

In 2024, Huawei captured 50% of the Chinese small foldable phone market with the Pocket 2 and nova Flip, with the Pocket 2 leading in sales, far surpassing the second place. Huawei's small foldable phone product line has received widespread market recognition. It is reported that Huawei will launch the Pocket 3 and Huawei Mate X7 foldable phones after the Lunar New Year, with the Pocket 3 expected to launch in February or March, and the Mate X7 slightly later.

The biggest highlight of the Pocket 3 is the improvement in performance, imaging, and structural stability, enhancing its durability. In terms of performance, the Huawei Pocket 3 is expected to use the same chip as the Mate 70 series. Considering production capacity and product positioning, the Pocket 3 is likely to use the same chip as the Mate 70, rather than the Kirin chip of the Mate 70 Pro.

Regarding imaging, it's rumored that Huawei will bring the latest XMAGE imaging technology from the Mate 70 series down to the Pocket 3 to improve its color reproduction capabilities. However, due to the limited space in a small foldable phone, the Pocket 3's imaging hardware may not see significant upgrades.

The Pocket 3's greatest strength lies in its body structure and hinge. The previous generation Pocket 2 already employed the industry-leading "Kunlun Water Drop" hinge, significantly reducing gaps between structural components, improving flatness by 62%, and enhancing overall stability and drop resistance. The Pocket 3 will likely further improve hinge performance, a significant advantage for Huawei in the foldable phone arena.

Beyond performance, imaging, and the hinge, another feature of the Pocket 3 is its more fashionable design. It is understood that, like its predecessor, the Pocket 3 will also have an art custom edition, collaborating with high-fashion designer Iris van Herpen.

Realme Neo7 SE: A 7000mAh Battery "Power Bank"?

As one of the most anticipated mid-range performance phones in February, the Realme Neo7 SE has generated buzz since its leaks. In addition to being one of the first to feature the Dimensity 8400 Ultra mobile platform, its extra-large battery is a major highlight.

The Realme Neo7 SE's Dimensity 8400 Ultra uses a Cortex-A725 all-large-core architecture, with a single-core performance improvement of approximately 10% and an overall power consumption reduction of 35%. This chip first debuted on the Redmi Turbo 4, and its strong performance has been proven. Although using the same chip, the Realme Neo series has always focused on extreme cost-effectiveness, so the Neo7 SE's price is expected to be considerably lower than the Turbo 4.

Another highlight of the Realme Neo7 SE is the debut of a new 7000mAh high-capacity battery. Currently, the focus of competition in mid-range performance phones is on large batteries, long battery life, and high performance, complemented by lower pricing to attract loyal fans. The battery capacity of mainstream mid-range models is generally around 6000mAh, such as the vivo S20 with a 6500mAh battery and the Redmi Turbo 4 with 6550mAh. If the Realme Neo7 SE truly reaches 7000mAh, its battery life will be very impressive.

Compared to the battery and performance, other aspects of the Neo7 SE are relatively unremarkable, such as the 1.5K resolution straight screen, plastic frame, and IMX882 dual-camera setup. However, the Neo7 SE features 80W super fast charging.

February's New Phones Take on Government Subsidies for Older Models

Lei Technology believes that the batch of new phones released