OnePlus's 5G smartphone showcased at MWC 2019 with Snapdragon X50 modem

Like most of Android OEMs, OnePlus has showcased it's first 5G capable smartphone, albeit, in a shady way at MWC 2019. The company has officially confirmed that the first OnePlus smartphone with 5G networking capability is coming to the UK by Q2 of 2019.

As speculated, the OnePlu's 5G smartphone (model on display) is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC with the Snapdragon X50 5G modem. OnePlus is using Qualcomm RF Front-End solutions to offer better 5G connectivity. The end product will come with an un-announced Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC with the Snapdragon X55 5G modem.

As of now, there is no information on the launch of the OnePlus 5G smartphone in India, as there is no proper infrastructure to offer 5G network in the country. According to OnePlus, a smartphone equipped with a 5G network can be used to play cloud gaming from a PC, PS4, or even the Xbox One.

Demo device

The OnePlus 5G demo device used at the MWC booth looks different from the previous OnePlus smartphones. The demo phone has a taller display, similar to the recently launched Sony Xperia 1 with taller 21:9 aspect ratio (probably). The smartphone does not have a notch, which hints that the upcoming OnePlus smartphone might come with a slider design or a popup selfie camera. The smartphone was placed inside a white casing to protect the design of the smartphone.

It is too early to comment on the remaining specifications of the OnePlus 5G smartphone. The device is most likely to launch in the UK (OnePlus will be the first company to launch a 5G phone in the UK) in collaboration with EE.

The OnePlus 5G smartphone will compete against the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, Huawei Mate X, Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 5G and other 5G smartphones with the Snapdragon X50 or the Snapdragon X55 5G modem.