Oppo launches into SA with three mid-range smartphones this October and flagships from 2021

So you’ve been eyeing Chinese brand Oppo’s technologically-advanced range of smartphones, have you? So have we, truth be told, but it’s such a mission to try and get them here from China or another country that actually has them. Until, that is… until now. Oppo is officially launching in South Africa.

But they’re not going balls to the wall right at the start. Oppo’s bringing in a trio of its mid-range handsets this year to test the waters, before its flagships descend on South Africa in the first half of 2021. And those will be its new flagships, not the handsets announced this year. We’re getting the new stuff, along with the rest of the world.

The Three Amigos

The first three Oppo handsets to officially land in South Africa are the Oppo A15, the Oppo A53S and the Oppo A72. Which is which? Well, the larger the number, the more powerful the phone but Oppo says they’re all situated in the mid-range somewhere.

At the top of the class is the Oppo A72, which sports a Snapdragon 665 chipset backed by 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. There’s a 5,000mAh battery inside (which supports Oppo’s 18W fast-charge), and the 6.5in LCD screen features a resolution of 2,400 x 1,080. It should be plenty pretty to look at. There’s a rear quad-camera, with 48MP, 8MP, and dual 2MP sensors capturing images, and up-front is a 16MP lens. Oppo gets a little boastful about its camera tech and we’re keen to see what it can actually do.

The A53S rocks a Snapdragon 460, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage (we’re not sure if the 6GB/128GB version is coming to SA). It’s got the same 5,000mAh fast-charging battery as its larger sibling but the 6.5in display cuts down the resolution to 720 x 1,600. There’s a triple camera (13MP, 2MP, 2MP) on the back and a 16MP camera on the front.

The A15 was made specifically for the lower mid-range, from what we were told. There’s a 6.5in HD+ display, a triple rear camera and a 4,230mAh battery. We haven’t managed to find deeper details about this handset yet but they should be along shortly.

When and where? 

Oppo South Africa is being a little coy about when you’ll see the phones in the country and they’re being even more secretive about the pricing. We’ve managed to find out that the headliner Oppo A72 will come in around R7000, so the Oppo A52S and the Oppo A15 will definitely be cheaper than that. As for when… there’s a partner announcement taking place on 7 October, which should see pricing and availability made official.