China Mobile has revealed plans to release a proprietary 5G smartphone as part of its drive to launch the technology in more than 50 Chinese cities before 2020.
Branded as the Pioneer X1, the 5G smartphone features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset and a 6.47-inch display. It will retail for CNY4,988 ($697) and will be made available online and via China Mobile’s stores.
Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE revealed their first 5G smartphones last month, but China Mobile is the first operator to reveal a 5G device – and the China Daily reports that the Pioneer X1 is the first of over 100 5G models that China Mobile plans to launch within the next year.
The operator has similarly ambitious plans in deploying its network, with 50,000 base stations due to be rolled out before the end of the year. China Mobile is building out non-standalone and standalone networks simultaneously in order to facilitate its progress towards achieving the latter.
Four 5G licences were made available by the Chinese government in June. China Mobile leads the mobile market with almost 60% of the country’s subscribers.
