Chinese manufacturer OPPO has officially announced the OPPO R1S, which is an upgraded variant of the popular OPPO R1 in line with earlier reports that had suggested OPPO would officially launch the device for China on April 25th at 10:00 AM Beijing time. The OPPO R1S shares its specifications with the R1 which was unveiled during the MWC earlier this year. However there is one major change which the OPPO R1S carries – the device brings across 4G LTE connectivity thanks to OPPO making the switch from the Mediatek MT6582 for the OPPO R1 to a Qualcomm MSM8226 processor for the OPPO R1S.
For a recap, the OPPO R1S sports a full Gorilla Glass 3 clad body with a 5-inch 720p HD display screen which offers a 294 ppi pixel density. In terms of connectivity options, the device sports dual SIM quad-band GSM and dual-band 3G connectivity. 4G LTE is available on the R1S thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 MSM8226 processor, which is clocked at 1.6 GHz and a faster Adreno 305 graphics processing unit (GPU) along with 1 GB of RAM. Internal storage is limited at 16 GB and there is no MicroSD slot available. An upgraded 13 mega pixel primary snapper bearing Sony’s top quality sensors is capable of 1080p video recording and exceptional low-light photography, whereas Selfies and the occasional video call will be catered to by a 5 MP secondary front facing camera. The cameras and the Gorilla Glass 3 design are the primary selling points which have seen the OPPO R1 gain a fan following in China. Since the same design features have been copied over to the OPPO R1S, we would assume this phone to perform great as well.
The device will run on OPPO’s Color OS, which is basically skinned variant of Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and can be pre-ordered from OPPO’s web-store for CNY 2498 (~$400). The only downside to an exceptional device is the RAM, which as per earlier rumors was 2 GB though the official announcement lists it as 1 GB. It also appears that OPPO has launched a deal with the R1S, wherein they’re packaging the device with a free 4000 mAh power bank and a free Bluetooth speaker. The device is so far launched for consumption in the Chinese market only, and there is no indication whether it will see a launch outside anytime soon. If you’re in China and are going to get your hands on this beauty, do let us know your views in the comments below.
