Itel P55, P55+, P55 5G, the ultimate buyer’s review

These are all the Itel P55 models coming to Zimbabwe. The p55, p55+, and p55 5g. That’s a lot of fives. What is odd is there is a 4th one that’s not coming to Zimbabwe which comes with the biggest battery. Seems we are not worthy but at least we got the 5G version right?

How to tell them apart

So design. How do you know which of the P55s you see is which? Well, it’s easy. The regular P55 is the only one with 3 camera circles on the back and this particular one is blue. The P55+ is a bit tricky. It’s the only one with both a punchole for the camera and just 2 camera circles on the back. The P55 5G is the only one with a waterdrop notch. See simple.

They look the same…but different

All 3 of them have the same screen size of 6.56”, and the same resolution of HD+ which is a bit low but noone buying this phone will actually notice or care much about the sharpness of this screen. All of them are very decent LCDs with vibrant color, good viewing angles, and a 90Hz refresh rate. Something interesting is that the maximum screen brightness on the P55 5G is noticeably lower than the maximum brightness of the other P55s. I have a theory for this.

The P55 5G has a more powerful processor which also consumes more power than the processors in the other 2. So a lower max display brightness might give back a percent or 2 over time. I also am not a fan of the waterdrop notch on the 5G. I get that such a panel is less complicated to make meaning it’s cheaper and will keep the price of the 5G as close as possible to the other 2 but it’s the only odd one out of the 3 and it’s the one that looks the most dated.

Itel P55, P55+, P55 5G, the ultimate buyer's review

Software and UI

As you can imagine, the user experience of all 3 of these phones is the same. All of them are running the same Android 13 matched with Itel OS 13 and it’s got a couple of nuggets in it.

Homescreen shortcuts dock

So on the lock screen, you can swipe from the left to gain access to some shortcuts like music or the calculator. You can also have quick access to some app shortcuts whilst you are in any app on the phone by swiping and holding from either edge of the screen. You can even edit this one and add your favorite apps to it. Oh and if you press and hold on an app in the smart dock, it can automatically trigger split screen mode allowing you to use 2 apps at once.

Dynamic islan…Sorry, Dynamic bar

There is also a dynamic bar…I wonder where they got this one from…It’s an animation that flashes information for a few seconds when unlocking the phone using face unlock, the phone’s charging status and calls. It is a nice touch but still has a very limited set of apps that can make use of it.

Performance

Performance is par for the course for a phone of this price. It loves light usage despite it having all these performance-focused features built into it. The hardware is not made for performance. At times there is a delay in launching the keyboard which is one of the more basic workloads it is going to face.

Speaking of performance, the P55 and P55+ are using the same Unisoc T606 and the 5G is using a more powerful MediaTek Dimensity 810. Is there a performance difference? Well yes, the P55 5G is slightly faster across the board but not by much. Opening apps is a bit snappier and the UI generally feels just a bit more responsive than on the Unisoc-powered P55 and P55+

What may also be adding to the speed advantage of the P55 5G is that it has 6GB of RAM whereas the rest only do with 4GB. All of them top out at 128GB of internal storage that you can expand with an SD card slot.

The 5G starts to lose its advantage in the battery department. That more powerful MediaTek chip put it last in our battery endurance test but not by much. The P55 5G dropped to 65%, the regular P55 came second dropping to 67% and the P55+ had a comfortable lead with 73% of battery left after the test. The P55+ is also the only one with the fastest charging speed of the 3. 45W where the other 2 tap out at 18W. It also has some neat charging tricks.

P55+ has the coolest charging options!

Normally when you have a phone that supports super fast charging, it doesn’t charge at its maximum speed from 0% all the way to 100%. It will have a charging profile where it will charge at full speed up to maybe 80% and then slow down a bit to 100% this is to make sure the battery is not damaged. On top of this, there are safety measures put into super fast charging systems so that the battery is not damaged. Temperature sensors in the battery and the charging port with communicate with the charging system. So if the phone gets a bit too warm during charging, the charging system will dial it back and charge slower just to make sure the heat stays in check. This is done automatically and you never know it’s happening.

The P55+ goes a step further and offers you the option to force the phone into a charging mode that you like. By default, it will be on Smart Charging where all the charging decisions are made by the phone’s charging system. However, if you feel like taking matters into your own hands, you can manually choose slow charging (Low Temp Charge) till the battery is full or the fastest charging possible (Hyper Charge) without any interruptions…save for when the phone temps have gone beyond the limits. So if you wake up in a hurry and you need a day’s power in half an hour then you can force it to charge at its fastest speed till it’s full. I don’t think any other phone offers this and I actually love it.

P55 5G has the best camera

All 3 P55s are using 50MP cameras and they all take decent photos. I think technology has moved so much that in good lighting it’s hard to see a phone that struggles to take a flattering photo. The P55 and P55+ take virtually the same-looking photos both having a slightly warm tone. The P55 5G takes photos with a cooler tone so a bit more emphasis on the blues.

It was interesting to see that when indoors in low light scenes, the warmer tones in the P55 and P55+ made photos look better than the cooler-looking ones taken by the P55 5G. When out in the sun, the P55 and P55+ were producing photos that looked very warm with the P55 5G getting it just right and looking a lot better.

You may be wondering why you are not seeing crisp examples of what I am talking about. Unfortunately, my backup with photos from all three phones was corrupted meaning I lost all of them. Very annoying considering how this camera comparison was legitimately one very interesting one as you’ll find out now.

Overall, the Itel P55 5G’s pictures looked the best. They had the best color balance in well-lit conditions, the best image processing in terms of HDR, and the P55 5Gs images had the least amount of noise.

The P55 5Gs camera is so good I am willing to bet it is better than the camera on the Itel S23+. What I observed is the image sensor being used on the P55 5G is different from the one used in the P55 and P55+. It seems that they test chipsets against specific camera sensors and the P55 5G might be reaping dividends in the camera department from simply having a chipset with more processing power that can handle a better quality camera.

So if you are in the market for a P55, which one is the best one for you? Well here is the breakdown.

The Itel P55

It’s the cheapest to buy whilst having the same features and performance as the P55+. It’s even got a better-looking face than the P55 5G.

The P55+

It’s got the best battery life and the fastest charging of the 3, It also looks the best all-around especially if you get this black one with the gold rings around the camera circles.

The P55 5G

It’s the most powerful of the 3 so it feels faster when using it. It can handle more demanding tasks like gaming and also has the best camera of the 3. Oh, and it’s probably the cheapest phone with 5G if that is something you are looking for.

All 3 of these devices are available on the Pindula Market with the prices listed here. And if you are a civil servant you will be able to get your own flexible credit. Buy now from the link in the description.

It also gives me great sorrow to inform you that this will be my last video. It has been an amazing journey making content for you and hanging out with you in the comments. I have taught you all a thing or 2 in my content and you have given me enough confidence to share tech stuff with you. I owe each and every one of you for being a part of this content creation process. It’s been an amazing 7 years with you. Thank you, Ndinotenga, Siyabonga. 

Also Read:

• Itel A70 review. So much hype around this $89 smartphone.
• Itel S23+ vs GTeL Infinity 13. Which of these did a better job at making a decent, affordable smartphone for the Zimbabwean
• This is why Itels and budget phones slow down quicker than flagships like the iPhone or S23