HTC MWC 2019 announcements focus on the growing 5G market. Its new product is a 5G Mobile Hub, and it will be coming to Australia via Telstra.
HTC MWC 2019 announcements include
In fact, its equivalent in specifications to the latest Qualcomm 855 Snapdragon flagship phones.
The global website is here.
Cher Wang, Chairwoman and CEO of HTC, said
“HTC is proud to bring to market the world’s first 5G mobile smart hub. 5G will be the game-changer for VR and AR, and the new HTC 5G Hub will seamlessly deliver the great bandwidth of 5G to our devices, driving our vision of Vive Reality—a boundless, immersive environment where human experiences will come to the forefront.”
Kevin Teoh, Telstra’s Consumer Segment Executive, said,
“Telstra is proud to partner with HTC on the launch of the world’s first 5G mobile smart hub, which will be Australia’s first 5G mobile device.”
Durga Malladi, senior vice president and general manager, 4G/5G, Qualcomm Technologies said
“Our long-standing collaboration with HTC has a proven track record in delivering mobile innovation. Our efforts helped deliver the first Android smartphone, we worked closely together to accelerate the transition to 4G, and we are now ushering in the age of 5G with one of the first mobile devices to take advantage of 5G and next-generation Wi-Fi capabilities of the Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform.”
HTC 5G mobile hub includes
- 5-inch 1280 x 720p touch screen and dual speakers/mics (Google Assistant)
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor and X50 5G modem
- 4/32/microSD to 512GB and OTG support
- Android Pie with HTC Sense overlay
- 760mAh battery with Qualcomm QC 3.0 and USB-C PD 2.0 charging
- Wi-Fi AD (maximum 4 connections) or earlier (up to 20 connections)
- Ethernet port (single LAN)
- Bluetooth 5.0
- USB-C gen 1 with Display Port and PD 2.0 support
- Single sim supports 2.63Gbps DL and 287Mbps UL
- 4G LTE bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 20, 28, 38, 41, 66
- 5G NR Band n78 (3500MHz)
It is essentially an Android-based entertainment device. Its main use will be in the home where NBN is not available (subject to 5G availability) and 5G on the go when travelling etc.
Pricing is not available, and it will likely be a Telstra 5G bundle from Q2, 2019.
GadgetGuy’s take: HTC 5G mobiole hub is gen 1!
For now, we will let Telstra, HTC et al. crow about 5G but soon we will be very specific about its real-world capabilities, costs and availability.
We are still of the opinion that Joe and Jane Average will not see much difference over 4G or NBN for at least two years.
View this as a first-generation device. Why does it not yet support Wi-Fi AX is beyond me? The Qualcomm 855 does so this may be a PR/website error. Why it does not support other 5G bands than n78, 3500MHz is odd too.
But we will ask questions and let readers know all about 5G as we learn more.
