OPPO Find X7 series become inaugural 5G-Advanced smartphones on China Telecom

5G-Advanced (or 5G-A) is touted as the next major step in the evolution of mobile broadband, and as such is likely to become a major theme among telecommunications showcases at IFA 2024.

The technology may be previewed there by prospective hardware suppliers such as Nokia and ZTE; however, in the meantime, it has been officially unveiled by China Mobile as its latest, most cutting-edge, form of mobile data.

The carrier backs it to confer download speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second (10Gb/s) on compatible smartphones, the first of which are already on the Chinese market courtesy of OPPO.

They are the top-end Find X7 and X7 Ultra (and also, presumably, the latter’s Satellite Communications Edition), which, as the OEM now indicates, have had 5G-A compatibility baked into them from their release.

Accordingly, all pre-existing units of the flagship series on China Mobile should be able to use the new cutting-edge speeds from their release, as demonstrated by OPPO Chief Product Officer Pete Lau.

The OnePlus co-founder has confirmed that a Find X7-series device can now display a variation on the ColorOS 14 cell-signal status-bar icon with a new “5GA” label when on the new network type.

The executive's choice to share that insight via Twitter/X may be a hint that 5G-A might also hit the international market soon.

Then again, it is not likely to come cheap, as the Find X7 series still starts at €637 (~$688) via their third-party outlets such as TradingShenzhen in Europe.