Redmi to launch affordable 5G phone in 2020, will cost around Rs 20,000

Xiaomi's sub-brand Redmi is gearing up to launch an affordable smartphone in the second half of 2020. Xiaomi-backed Black Shark could launch a 5G smartphone soon as well.

Redmi’s 5G phones will be available for less than 2,000 yuan (around Rs 20,000) in the second half of next year. (Image: Lu Weibing/Weibo)

Xiaomi’s sub-brand Redmi is gearing up to launch an affordable smartphone in the second half of 2020. Redmi general manager Lu Weibing posted on Weibo page that its 5G phones will be available for less than 2,000 yuan (around Rs 20,000) in the second half of next year. Xiaomi-backed Black Shark could launch a 5G smartphone soon as well.

So far big names like Samsung, Huawei, OnePlus, and Xiaomi have launched their 5G smartphones, though limited to premium segment. A report by analyst firm Canalys predicts that 5G smartphones will account for 51 per cent of all smartphone shipments in 2023 with nearly 800 million units, even though the rollout of 5G services is yet to happen in several countries.

Meanwhile, Samsung claims to have sold over one million units of its Galaxy S10 5G variant in South Korea. In India, 5G services are not expected until 2021 or 2022 as the trials are yet to begin. However, as 5G becomes more mainstream, we could see more affordable smartphones at lower price-points using the technology.

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Another budget player Realme has announced that its 5G devices will be ready before the telecom operators in India start offering their 5G network services. Though the company did not give an exact timeline or price-point, it will most likely be a budget offering going by the company’s past offerings in the country.

As per Canalys, 4G smartphones will be surpassed by 5G smartphones only after five years of the global commercial release of 5G services.

Weibing, who is attending MWC Shanghai also posted that Xiaomi’s first 5G phone Mi Mix 3 5G version is now listed in Europe and will soon be available in China as well. The phone will cost 599 euros, which is around Rs 46,500 on conversion. “4G changes life, 5G changes society,” he wrote in his post.

Trials for 5G services are live in countries like the US, Europe, and South Korea. A Twitter user recently posted 5G speed tests for the US carrier Verizon, which shows 1.6 Gbps download speeds and close to 100 Mbps upload speeds, though the network is still in testing. AT&T is another carrier testing its 5G networks in the US, while carrier KT Korp in South Korea said it is launching its services, according to Reuters.

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