4G version of Oppo A55 debuts with 50MP camera, Helio G35 chipset

The Oppo A55 5G was announced in January with a Dimensity 700 chipset, but it never reached India. Instead, the country is getting a 4G-only A55 model, though the naming exaggerates how similar these two phones are. For example, the 4G model has a much better camera and faster charging.

The Oppo A55 is powered by the Helio G35 – a far cry from the Dimensity, this 12nm chip has eight Cortex-A53 core and a PowerVR GE8320 GPU. It can be configured with 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage or 6/128 GB. The triple card slot makes it possible to add extra storage even if you use two SIM cards.

So, the phone loses some performance, but gains a 50 MP sensor for the main camera (vs. 13 MP for the 5G model). It has a brighter aperture, f/1.8 vs. f/2.2, and pixel binning, giving it a leg up on its 5G counterpart in terms of low-light performance. Video recording 1080p maxes out at 30 fps, but the A55 5G doesn’t do any better despite its more powerful chipset.

The front-facing camera was also upgraded, now featuring a 16 MP sensor (up from 8 MP). This one can also record 1080p/30 fps video. And in case you didn’t notice, this camera is inside a punch hole instead of a notch.

Next up, the screen. Not much has changed here, this is a 6.51” LCD with 720 x 1,600 px resolution (20:9). It covers 70% of the NTSC color gamut and promises a contrast ratio of 1,500:1. The screen runs at 60Hz refresh rate and 120Hz touch sampling rate. The screen is protected by NEG T2X-1 chemically strengthened glass.

The Oppo A55 runs on a 5,000 mAh battery, same as its 5G sibling. However, it supports 18W fast charging (9V/2A), so it gets filled quicker – 17% in 15 minutes, 33% in 30 minutes. Optimized Night Charging will keep the battery at 80% while you sleep and finish off the charging process in the morning.

There’s also Night-time Standby mode, which loses only 1.37% charge over 8 hours, so you’ll wake up with basically the same battery charge as you had last night. Oppo boasts about how much the A55 can get done with just 5% battery charge – you can chat on WhatsApp for nearly an hour or do an old-fashioned phone call for nearly an hour and a half.

A few more things to note. First, there is a side-mounted fingerprint reader, but you can also use face unlock. The USB-C port is wired for 2.0 speed and there is a 3.5mm headphone jack. You can also use Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX and LDAC support. Wi-Fi 5 (ac) is supported, NFC is not. Finally, the phone runs ColorOS 11.1 (based on Android 11) out of the box.

The Oppo A55 (4G) is available in Starry Black and Rainbow Blue • The Oppo A55 5G

The Oppo A55 is currently on pre-order in India. The 4/64GB version will arrive on October 3 and will set you back INR 15,500 ($210/€180). If you want more memory, the 6/128GB version is coming a bit later, October 11, and will cost INR 17,500 ($235/€205).

You can pre-order from the official Oppo store, the phone is also coming to Amazon India as well as brick and mortar retailers. Note that there are discount and cashback offers available.