5G phones are expected to support super speeds of up to 10 Gbps and the network is touted to be 100 times faster than 4G. So naturally, 5G smartphones are all the rage right now and a race of sorts has emerged in the smartphone industry as to who will launch the first 5G-ready device in the market. Throughout 2018, we’ve been hearing from smartphone OEMs about their plans to launch 5G devices. Here, we compile that list of upcoming 5G smartphones, ones that you can also expect to land in India.
Take a look.
OnePlus
OnePlus announced its plans to launch a 5G-ready smartphone in 2019 and reiterated the same multiple times throughout this year. The industry was expecting the OnePlus 7 to become the first 5G-ready smartphone from the OEM, but looks like the company has special plans for the said smartphone. A spokesperson from the company recently said that 5G will mark the beginning of a new line-up of smartphones from OnePlus.It is expected that OnePlus will launch its 5G phone sometime in the first half of 2019, which could mean that the company will showcase the phone or a prototype at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain. One major shift we expect from OnePlus’ stable is that of pricing. The company has been increasing the base price of its smartphones over the years and with 5G being a hot new feature, one could expect OnePlus to cash in all its chips with the new line-up one 5G phones.
Huawei
Huawei is one of the biggest proponents of 5G technology. The company has been perhaps the biggest names when it comes to the development of 5G network equipment and chips, with hundreds of engineers dedicated towards the efforts. Huawei is working on commercialising its first 5G smartphone and word has it that the company plans on making it available to the public in the first half of 2019. Speculation circulating the internet suggest the smartphone could be the Huawei Mate 30.
A 5G mobile hotspot device is expected to launch in Q2 of 2019. Huawei has also conducted 5G trials in India, in partnership with Airtel. Huawei and Bharti Airtel successfully conducted 5G network trials under a test set-up in India. The 5G trial was conducted at Airtel’s Network Experience Centre in Manesar (Gurugram). During the test trial, a user throughput of more than 3Gbps was achieved.
Xiaomi
The Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 is confirmed to bring support for 5G networks. Xiaomi President Lei Jun recently shared an image on Weibo of a Mi Mix 3 unit running on 5G network. The Mi Mix 3 in question is expected to be powered by the next generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset which is said to support 5G networks. Moreover, the 5G-ready Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 could also bring in 10GB of RAM. It is expected to launch in Q1 2019.
Nokia
In February, Qualcomm announced that it has partnered with 18 OEMs, including HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, to launch 5G-ready smartphone in 2019. The 5G smartphone from Nokia will be running on the Qualcomm’s X50 5G modem. In a demo of the X50 5G modem, Qualcomm was able to establish a 5G connection with greater than gigabit per second download speeds. We don’t know much about which Nokia phone will get 5G support first, but we do know that Nokia is testing the technology internally.
Vivo
Vivo also recently fitted the Qualcomm X50 modem in the Nex S smartphone. According to Vivo, the test completed the first phase of protocol. The company now needs to develop an actual 5G phone and it says its goal is to launch the first batch of commercial 5G devices by 2019. According to the company, China Mobile and Qualcomm have been key partners in the 5G rollout so China could be the first country to get 5G smartphones. But given the China trickle down effect, we expect the 5G smartphone to come to India as well. The question is, will India be ready to deploy 5G networks by 2019?
Oppo Vivo’s sister company Oppo also completed 5G tests using the Qualcomm X50 modem on a modified unit of the Oppo R15 smartphone. Oppo also reportedly plans a 5G smartphone release by 2019.
HTC
HTC is not done with the smartphone business just yet. Even though the company has considerably reduced staff, according to its Senior RF designer Kevin Duo, HTC is also sampling the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 and the Snapdragon X50 5G-ready modem.This means that the company could be looking to launch a 5G smartphone as well next year.
Lenovo and Moto Lenovo’s Vice President, Chang Cheng recently claimed that the company is ahead of the others on the 5G curve. The executive has claimed on Chinese micro-blogging website Weibo that the world’s first 5G phone will be from the house of Lenovo and it will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset. If Lenovo is readying a 5G smartphone, it is safe to assume that Moto is also working on a 5G device. In fact, Moto’s 5G Moto Mod with the built-in Snapdragon X50 5G modem has already been successfully tested.However, we highly doubt that the two companies will be first to bring the tech to market.
Samsung
Samsung Galaxy S10 One of the hottest and most talked about smartphone right now is the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S10 and there is talk that the device will get a special 5G variant in 2019. Samsung has already announced its new Exynos Modem 5100, which it says is the “industry’s first 5G modem that is fully compatible with 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 15.” Samsung is expected to launch four smartphones on the tenth anniversary of the Galaxy S series devices. Three of these smartphones are expected to launch in February-March, while the fourth one with 5G may launch at a later stage.
LG
LG is also on Qualcomm’s list of partners to launch a 5G smartphone. The device is expected to be unveiled in the US sometime in the first half of 2019
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