Which 5G phones have launched or are coming in 2019?
A variety of 5G networks are now live in the UK and US. A whole host of 5G phones have already been announced from Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo and more, with plenty of others to follow over the coming months. We've detailed those below and linked to our other in-depth coverage of those devices.
If you want to know more about 5G itself, including all the details on the network rollouts, check out our main 5G feature - otherwise, let's see who's talked about launching 5G phones so far.
The iPhone 12 in 2020 will be Apple's first 5G phone. In a surprise announcement earlier in 2019, Apple linked up with Qualcomm to use its 5G modem in its first 5G handset. On the same day and in a clearly coordinated move, alternative supplier Intel announced it wouldn't produce 5G smartphone modems after all. Indeed, Apple has now bought Intel's modem division with a view to producing its own 5G modem in the future.
Nokia has also now announced that it is going to use Qualcomm 5G chips in a future high-end smartphone - we might get to see this during 2019 but it's more likely it will be at next year's Mobile World Congress event in February.
Samsung
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The new kid on the block is Samsung's A90 5G which has a 6.7-inch display like the S10 5G below but comes in at a significantly cheaper price point than the other options Samsung is offering below.
The Galaxy S10 5G, introduced earlier this year, is available from EE, O2, Three and Vodafone in the UK and AT&T (business-only), Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint in the US. It's a large, 6.7-inch handset with all the hallmarks you'd expect from a Samsung S Series handset.
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There's also the Note 10+ 5G available from Three, Vodafone, EE and O2 in the UK and Verizon in the US. This new, even larger device comes complete with the familiar S-Pen stylus. It also looks smarter than the S10 equivalent, making it an obvious 5G champ.
An improved version of the Galaxy Fold - after earlier problems - is on sale now from EE in the UK and AT&T in the US, with the protective film on the display extended beyond the bezels so it can't be removed.
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Samsung uses its own chipset and modem for at least some S Series devices. As before, Qualcomm's 5G hardware is inside US-sold S10 devices, while Samsung Exynos hardware is used for the rest of the world. Samsung's 5G modem is called the Exynos Modem 5100.
OnePlus
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The OnePlus 7 Pro has a 5G variant of the usual handset, hence the rather unsurprising OnePlus 7 Pro 5G name. It's available now on EE in the UK. Key to the feature set is a fast refresh-rate screen, which makes everything look silky smooth.
Again, it's running Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855. Interestingly, OnePlus says that even though it looks the same as the standard OnePlus 7 Pro, it had to do a lot of work internally to get the cooling and antenna array right - so it's quite different to the standard Pro in that regard.
Xiaomi
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The Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 platform and sports a 6.39-inch FHD+ AMOLED display. Key to its design, however, is a sliding mechanism - meaning there's no front-facing camera interrupting the dominant front screen.
It's launched in the UK with Vodafone, Three and O2. Price-wise it's a little cheaper than many 5G phones, which makes it a great start point if you want to try out super-fast connectivity.
Oppo
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Oppo first showed off a prototype of its 5G handset on the Qualcomm stand at Mobile World Congress 2019 (above). The handset that emerged - the Oppo Reno 5G is based on the Reno 10x Zoom and is available on EE in the UK.
The 6.6-inch phone is based around Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 platform, has an edge-to-edge OLED display with pop-up shark-fin front camera, and a triple rear camera with a 10x hybrid zoom.
Oppo has also now announced it intends to launch a dual-mode 5G smartphone by the end of this year based on Qualcomm's dual-mode 5G mobile platform to support both standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) networks.
Huawei
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A 5G version of the huge 7.2-inch Mate 20 X we looked at earlier this year - dubbed the 'Godzilla of phones' - is now available in the UK. O2, Three, Vodafone and EE all previously confirmed the Mate 20 X 5G, but the plans were thrown into doubt because of Huawei's trade ban.
However, with the Huawei-Google situation a little clearer, the handset is available on Three, EE, Vodafone and Sky Mobile right now - and from Carphone Warehouse too.
There is also a 5G version of the now-launched Mate 30 Pro, but we've no idea if that phone will make it to UK or even European shores due to the US trade ban.
Huawei has also talked about its Mate X foldable phone that will be released later in the year - probably September. It supports 5G and before the ban was announced as coming to Vodafone and EE in the UK.
It won't be cheap, although there's no UK price as yet. The global announcement set it at €2,299 with 8GB RAM and 512GB storage.
Huawei is also going to be providing a 5G home router - we've seen this in action - called the 5G CPE Pro router. Vodafone, Three and EE will be stocking this; Vodafone is marketing it as 5G GigaCube.
Huawei uses its own hardware platform inside its flagship devices and its 5G modem is called Balong 5000, boasting a 6.5Gbps max speed. It works alongside the Kirin 980 platform that made its debut inside the Mate 20 Pro and has now been used in the P30 series.
LG
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The new mainstream flagship 4G phone from LG is the LG G8, but LG also announced the V50 ThinQ which is available on EE in the UK. The G Series phones like the G8 will stay as 4G LTE phones according to LG, while V devices will be 5G from now on.
The V50 ThinQ has a 4000mAh battery and a liquid-cooling chamber to keep everything nice and chilled - dissipating heat up to 40 percent faster than its predecessor model. It's based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 platform.
Moto
Motorola's Moto Z3 has a 5G Moto Mod and it's available now in the US as a Verizon exclusive. We've seen it in the flesh and, while it isn't that as impressive as some of the other 5G phones we've seen since, it was a decent first stab at a 5G device.
Sony
Sony used Mobile World Congress earlier this year to launch three phones, but none of those were 5G. Instead, a prototype of Sony's 5G device - which has a long 21:9 aspect ratio - was shown on Qualcomm's stand. Details are limited, but we know it uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset and X50 5G modem. That's as much as we have right now - we might get it imminently at IFA 2019 although we've heard some whispers from a network that it could be one for 2020.
Vivo
Vivo is also confirmed to be developing a 5G device, with a prototype shown late on Qualcomm's stand at CES 2019. As yet there's no word when it will launch.
ZTE
We normally don't cover ZTE a great deal because of the availability of its devices in Europe, but ZTE has announced that the Axon 10 Pro 5G handset will be coming to Europe this year, perhaps bolstered by the success of other Chinese handset manufacturers.
Again the phone runs Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 and it's rumoured to have a 6.47-inch 2,340 x 1,080 display.
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