Custom OPPO R15 with 5G capabilities tested successfully

The race for 5G is getting more interesting with each day and the latest piece of news about it comes straight from China. The four kings of the local market — where Samsung and Apple don't have much to say yet — are Huawei, OPPO, Vivo, and Xiaomi. Although a Chinese brand, OPPO has just managed to complete a 5G connectivity test using a mobile device in Australia.

According to the company's representatives, the test is a major checkpoint on the road to the goal of releasing a first-wave 5G handset. "The 5G internet connection was carried out on a pre-commercially available 5G smartphone, developed on the basis of an Oppo R15. It was customised with fully integrated 5G components, including a system board, RF, RFFE, and antenna," said OPPO about the test. 

For now, we are only talking about a custom version of an existing handset and a lab environment, but — if everything works as planned — OPPO might be able to unleash its first commercially-available 5G phone in early 2019, as intended. OPPO's statements come after brands like LG, Huawei, Samsung, ZTE, or HTC also unveiled their intentions to launch 5G smartphones by the end of next year. 

Since OPPO has recently become the first major brand to get a handset with 10 GB of memory certified, it would not be a surprise to see them succeed in this new endeavor as well. After all, it might still not have a solid presence in many Western countries, but OPPO is currently the world's fifth largest smartphone brand by shipments, which definitely makes it a force to be reckoned with.