Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo has revealed a prototype of its next smartphone: a 5G handset powered by the upcoming Snapdragon 855 chipset.
A direct follow-up to the Oppo Find X, the Find X 5G prototype was on show at the 2018 China Mobile Global Partners Conference at the start of the month in Guangzhou. The original Find X, you may remember, featured a clever pop-up selfie camera to get rid of the notch and bezels.
Oppo claims the prototype, powered by an engineering sample Snapdragon 855 and X50 5G modem “offers outstanding 5G performance”, and wowed visitors with its speedy web browsing, video streaming and video-calling performance.
Related: What is 5G?
Getting a prototype out this early is certainly quite a big deal, and leaves the company confident it’ll be at the forefront of the race to make 5G phones commercially available. “We are confident Oppo will be one of the first companies to launch a commercial 5G smartphone in 2019,” said Brian Shen, Oppo’s Global Vice President and President of China Business.
This, Shen says, is just the first step in an era that he sees as “5G+” – a period defined by smart devices talking with each other across 5G networks. “The smartphone will be at the core of a wide range of smart devices, which will all be connected through the 5G network,” he said.
“To address the areas of ‘smart health’ and ‘smart home’, OPPO has already begun work on several smart devices, exploring the intersection of 5G and cutting-edge technologies, and is collaboratively building a 5G+ innovation ecosystem with the entire industry.”
Related: Best Android phones
That all sounds quite promising, but then it would do, because it’s a prototype being promoted by its creators. The real proof will be in the pudding, and we weren’t too enamoured with the Oppo Find X when we reviewed it earlier this year. As Alex said in his review: “One of the nicest-looking smartphones to date, but the ramifications of having a truly notch-free design mean this flagship makes too many sacrifices to compete against the top players.”
Are you excited for the era of 5G? Let us know what you think on Twitter: @TrustedReviews