World’s first 5G phone to launch April 5 in South Korea – reports

Rappler.com

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World’s first 5G phone to launch April 5 in South Korea – reports
South Korea may be the first to have a commercially available 5G phone, just days apart from US Verizon's April 11 launch for its Motorola Z3 with 5G attachment

MANILA, Philippines – Two South Korean news agencies, Yonhap News and Korea Herald, have reported that Samsung has announced the release date for the 5G version of their flagship Samsung Galaxy S10: April 5.

This will make the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G the first commercially available 5G phone in the market, globally.

The arrival of the phone is right on time as South Korean telecom companies prepare to roll out their 5G services, with Nikkei Asian Review reporting that KT, SK Telecom, and LG Uplus will begin service “as soon as late March.”

S10 5G. Photo by Gelo Gonzales/Rappler

The South Korean government is reportedly intent on beating the US to having the first 5G commercial service in the world, hastening its arrival after US telco Verizon’s announcement of an April 11 launch. On Monday, South Korea’s National Radio Research Agency announced that the S10 5G had passed its signal verification test, according to the Herald, clearing the way for its launch.

Verizon is planning to launch 5G services alongside the Motorola Z3, a phone that uses an attachment to gain 5G connectivity as opposed to the S10 5G with its built-in 5G modem. The S10 5G will be a Verizon-exclusive in the US, but it will likely come there some time after the South Korea launch.

MOTOROLA Z3. In hand is the Motorola 5G attachment for the Z3. Photo by Gelo Gonzales/Rappler

Around the industry, the S10 5G is expected to cost 1.5 million South Korean won or almost P70,000*.

The S10 5G was announced in February 2019. It has the biggest screen ever for a Samsung Galaxy S phone at 6.7 inches, has a bigger battery than any of the other S10 variants, and has an extra 3D depth-sensing camera in addition to 3-camera array on the S10 and S10+. – Rappler.com

*P1 = 21.4565 KRW

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