Which 5G phones have launched or are coming in 2020?

Almost all mobile networks in the UK and US have 5G services. A whole host of 5G phones were announced in 2019 from Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo and more with plenty of others to follow over the first part of 2020. 

We've detailed the available phones 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.

Those who have already launched 5G phones...

Huawei

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Huawei's status as a key name in 5G has taken a bashing in recent times, largely because of issues related to the security of the high-end gear it provides to power various parts of mobile networks including the UK.

But far more consequential for its 5G phones was the US trade ban which, although not completely enforced has meant that flagship Huawei devices from late 2019 have not had Google apps on them (or able to be installed) instead relying on Huawei's own App Gallery. 

That has affected the Mate 30 Pro already and will affect the upcoming P40 and P40 Pro. The Mate 30 Pro 4G is going on sale in the UK but not the 5G version of it, while the P40 launch is set for late March. 

A 5G version of the huge 7.2-inch Mate 20 X - dubbed the 'Godzilla of phones' - is now available in the UK. And it has Google apps. It's available on Three, EE, Vodafone and Sky Mobile right now - and from Carphone Warehouse too.

Huawei's Mate X foldable phone was supposed to be released last year but it hasn't yet appeared. It was previously announced as coming to Vodafone and EE in the UK. It won't be cheap even if it does appear - the global announcement pinned it at €2,299 with 8GB RAM and 512GB storage. 

Huawei is also providing a 5G home router - we've seen this in action - called the 5G CPE Pro router. Vodafone, Three and EE are stocking this in the UK; Vodafone is marketing it as 5G GigaCube. 

LG

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Last year's mainstream flagship 4G phone from LG was the LG G8, but LG also announced the V50 ThinQ available on EE in the UK and Verizon in the US. 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. 

Motorola

Motorola's Moto Z3 and Z4 have 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. 

Motorola has said it will be launching more 5G phones in 2020 at the flagship end and will use Qualcomm Snapdragon chips. We're expecting more news on this very soon. 

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 and Sprint in the US (the standard 4G One Plus 7 Pro is available on other US networks). 

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.

Since then though we've had the OnePlus 7T launch. And there's also a version of that with 5G - the OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren. Don't try and say that name too many times in one go. 

It's a result of OnePlus' sponsorship of McLaren which made a bit more sense during the 2019 F1 season when the team wasn't languishing at the back of the field. It's available through T-Mobile in the US. 

Oppo

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Oppo first showed off a prototype of its 5G handset a year ago. The phone that emerged is 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's incoming next flagship phone, the Find X2, looks to be based around Snapdragon 865 and so will almost certainly be a 5G phone. That will launch soon although after the cancellation of Mobile World Congress we're not sure when. 

Samsung

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There's little squirrel_widget_zdoubt about it - Samsung wants to lead in 5G phones. It now has seven on the market from the mid-range upwards.

The brand new Samsung S20 range has three 5G handsets (in addition to the S20 4G which is also available in the UK but not the US).

There's the 6.2-inch S20 5G, 6.7-inch S20+ 5G (both similar models apart from the size) and the range-topping S20 Ultra which has a unique camera setup featuring a 100x zoom.   

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The cheapest 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. 

The Galaxy S10 5G was introduced a year ago and is available from EE, O2, Three and Vodafone in the UK and AT&T, 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 device comes complete with the familiar S-Pen stylus. 

And, finally, there's an improved version of the Galaxy Fold which 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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As usual, Qualcomm's 5G hardware is inside US-sold devices (either 855 or 865), while Samsung Exynos hardware is used for the rest of the world. 

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.

The companies that will launch 5G devices in 2020...

Apple

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

Nokia has announced that it is going to use Qualcomm 5G chips in a future high-end smartphone - we might have got a preview of this at Mobile World Congress 2020 but since the show was cancelled we're still waiting. 

Sony

A prototype of Sony's 5G device - which has a long 21:9 aspect ratio - was shown on Qualcomm's stand at Mobile World Congress a year ago. Details are limited, but that prototype used the Snapdragon 855 chipset and X50 5G modem (which would be different if it launched now). 

This phone may or may not be the Xperia 2 that we're expecting to launch at a virtual press conference on 24 February when Mobile World Congress would otherwise have taken place. 

Vivo

Vivo is also confirmed to be developing a 5G device, with a prototype shown late on Qualcomm's stand at CES 2019. We now know it will debut the iQOO 3 5G on 25 February. 

The phone will have a 48MP rear camera as part of a quad-camera setup and will apparently be based on Qualcomm Snapdragon 865.

ZTE

We normally don't cover ZTE a great deal because of the availability of its devices in Europe, but ZTE announced that the Axon 10 Pro 5G handset will be coming to Europe in 2019, perhaps bolstered by the success of other Chinese handset manufacturers. However, as of February 2020 we are still waiting for any kind of UK launch.

The Axon 10 Pro 5G runs Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 and it's rumoured to have a 6.47-inch 2,340 x 1,080 display. 



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