Last Updated on July 25, 2022 by Mathew Diekhake
If you need to flash a stock ROM (firmware flash file), custom ROM, custom recovery, or rooting file on any of the Oppo mobile devices, then you can use the SP Flash Tool (Smartphone Flash Tool), provided that your smartphone comes with a MediaTek system chip inside.
Some manufacturers like Samsung have their own dedicated flashing tools. Samsung uses the Odin flashing tool, for example. On the other hand, other manufacturers share flashing tools. The SP Flash Tool works for all Oppo mobile devices, as well as for smartphones from other manufacturers that have MediaTek chips as well. It doesn’t matter what version; the latest will be compatible with more devices, but all manufacturers share the same versions. For more on SP Flash Tool versions, you can see the Smartphone Flash Tool’s download page.
The SP Flash Tool was actually developed and released by MediaTek Inc., hence why it’s always working for those particular devices with MediaTek chips.
You can refer to the list of devices with MediaTek system chips from Wikipedia if you’re unsure, or use a search engine such as Google to research it further yourself.
Download Oppo Flash Tool
1. Start off by downloading and install the Android CDC driver on the Windows computer. (You don’t have to install the driver a second time if you’ve already got it on the computer.)
2. Download the ROM that you want to flash onto the computer and extract the file by right-clicking on it > choosing extract from the menu. (You can also follow the same steps given below for flashing a custom ROM that’s made for your device if you like.)
3. Download and extract the Smartphone Flash Tool file onto your computer.
4. Double-click on the SP Flash Tool application from within the extracted folder.
5. You’ll now have the Smartphone Flash Tool interface open on your computer. Click on the “Download” tab from its menu.
6. Click on the “Choose” button from the Scatter-loading section. Navigate to where your ROM file is on your hard drive, click on it, and then it will upload to the flash tool.
7. Click on the “Download” button when you want to start the ROM flashing.
8. Pick up the smartphone, making sure it is powered off first, and connect it to the computer with the USB cable, remembering to press one of the Volume buttons once it’s connected so the computer can detect the mobile device.
The ROM will then get flashed to the smartphone. You know the flashing is finished when you get a big green tick at the end.
The Smartphone Flash Tool can be used by just about anyone as soon as you understand that you need to upload the ROM file of your choice to the “scatter file” area. Over the years, identifying how to upload the scatter file has become clearer from the tool’s interface, but apart from that not much has changed.
It’s the fact that the ROMs for MediaTek devices include a scatter inside them that limits the usage of the Smartphone Flash Tool to those devices only. But all devices with MediaTek system chips come with the scatter file inside, so it doesn’t matter what version of the SP Flash Tool that you use, they all should give you the same results. The newer versions of the tool that are available out there could be compatible with more devices, or the more likely scenario being that they just bring bug fixes and general improvements along the way.
Your stock or custom ROM will now be flashed on the mobile device, but it may be without its IMEI number at the moment. You can flash the IMEI back on the device now by using the SN Write Tool.