Itel releases a $140 5G capabale P55

Yep, for just $140 Itel is promising a 5G experience in the form of an Itel P55 5G and this is just 1 of the 4 smartphones of this series that Itel has just launched. The other 3 are the P55, P55+, and P55T however the last one is not making its way into Zim even though it’s the one with the biggest battery fitted to it. A bit odd innit?

All 4 of them use the same 50MP main camera, and, excluding the P55 T with its 6000mAh battery, the rest sport a slightly smaller 5000mAh unit. In terms of processors, all of them are using the Unisoc T606 chipset except for the 5G version which goes for the Mediatek Dimensity 6080 5G. Storage starts at 128GB on all models with the top models having 256GB and RAM starting at 4GB going up to 8GB. This can further be expanded to 24GB on the 8+16GB models.

Itel went the route of Tecno when it came to model specifications. They just shuffle up the specs on every device such that there really isn’t a clear-cut hierarchy of which one is objectively the better device than the other.

Itel P55 – Up to 24GB of RAM

This is the cheapest one at a recommended retail price of $110. It’s got the basic specs that will come in the rest of the P55s in terms of the camera, the battery, and the storage and memory options. Its main selling point is its price.

In its top configuration, it will have 128GB of internal storage and up to 24GB of RAM via memory fusion (8GB + 16GB memory fusion). Charging occurs at a maximum of 18W and the display now goes up to 90Hz refresh with a punch hole for the selfie camera.

Itel P55 Plus – 45W charging

The P55+ was getting all the attention, even the launch event invite was talking about the $130 Itel P55+. It builds from the baseline set up by the standard P55. Same camera, processor, battery, and 90Hz punchole display.

The only part where the P55+ falls short is the memory fusion. While the standard P55 can expand its 8GB of RAM by another 16GB, the P55+ can only expand its RAM by 8GB giving it a maximum of 16GB RAM vs the 24GB maximum on the standard P55. I don’t know about you but I am sure this is a software limitation that just exists to make the decision-making process harder. Otherwise, nothing about the hardware stops the P55+ from expanding its RAM by 16GB as well.

The party trick that the P55+ has is the superfast 45W charging capable of raising a dead battery to 65% in 30 minutes and a full charge in an hour. Charging rapidly does affect the longevity of the battery over time so they also have a 33W mode that charges the phone at a more relaxed pace which is still much faster than the 18W on the standard P55. Speaking of 18W, as a safety measure, if the temps of the P55+ rise above 35 degrees it will switch to 18W to reduce the temps.

On the design side of things, it will also have a soft textured back similar to the one we saw on the Tecno Camon 20 Premier 5G.

Itel P55 5G – Well…5G!

The P55 5G is a $140 5G capable smartphone. That’s probably as low as 5G capable smartphones go and Itel quotes the download speed at a maximum of 1Gbps. This is the limit of the 5G modem in this phone. The actual speeds you will experience will depend on what Econet gives you since they are the only operator in Zimbabwe offering 5G right now.

Yes, you gain 5G but here is what you lose. Charging speed drops back to the standard 18W and you also lose the punchole in favor of the traditional waterdrop notch. There is a 256GB version with 16GB of RAM (8GB + 8GB memory fusion) but the one going for $140 is the model with 128GB of storage and 12GB of RAM (6GB + 6GB memory fusion)

That said, thanks to it having 5G, you also get the most powerful and most efficient processor in the whole Itel range, the Mediatek Dimesity 6080 5G. If I am to give a guess, if you don’t use 5G on the P55 5G, you will get better battery performance than you’d get from the rest of the P55s using the Unisoc T606 chipset.

This chipset also comes naturally with a beefier GPU so it will provide the best gaming experience of the whole P55 range. I think the benefits of the performance coming from having that Dimensity 6080 chip alone are a bigger selling point than 5G purely from a day-to-day usage point of view.

Itel P55T – Big Battery

This one will not be coming to Zimbabwe but for the sake of the markets where it will be launched, I’ll talk about it as well. It gets the least amount of RAM (4GB + 4GB memory fusion) but maintains the same camera, chipset, and 128GB of storage as the standard P55 and P55+.

The biggest highlight for this one is the bigger 6000mAh battery and it still baffles me as to why the phone with the bigger battery is not coming to Zim given our power situation. It will also use the basic 18W charging meaning it will take longer than the other P55s to charge from empty.

The P55T will also be running Android 14 Go out of the box, most likely with version 14 of Itel OS on top of it.

Itel’s Rebrand and ecosystem of products

Apart from it being a new smartphone launch, Itel also took the opportunity to splash a fresh coat of paint on its brand. They rebranded and made changes to their logo and shade of red. It’s now a lot more modern looking and they are using one of my favorite fonts, Sans Gothic.

They also took the opportunity to showcase a number of subdivisions within their business focusing on different classes of products.

• Hair care and beauty products under the Sundaze brand
• Audio and wearables under the Sones brand
• Power & backup solutions under the Power Master brand
• Children-friendly tech under the KeeKid brand

They are also serious about green home energy solutions that they are pushing under Itel ESS (Energy Storage Solutions). This division focuses on products like solar generators, solar panels, lithium batteries for solar systems, and solar power inverters.

Itel says this is not just a rebrand but also a shift in how they do things. A more mature approach is what they are after and they are on a quest to provide the most expansive ecosystem of products under the Transsion group whilst also keeping tech accessible to the masses.

The P55 series of smartphones will be available in stores starting January 2024 and you can get them on easy credit on Pindula Market by clicking here.

Also read:

• Itel A70 review. So much hype around this $89 smartphone.
• Itel S23+ review. Probably the cheapest smartphone with an OLED display at US$164. A good one too!