Expect 5G Smartphones To Be More Expensive, Says OnePlus CEO

Expect 5G Smartphones to be More Expensive, Says OnePlus CEO

BY Evan Selleck

Evan Selleck

Evan's a lover of all things technology, and he's got a major soft spot for the mobile industry. Give him some time and he'd be more than happy to talk your ear off about all the new and shiny things....

All Articles by Evan Selleck

Published 6 Dec 2018

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As smartphone prices continue to climb, it sounds like we’re going to see one integral component for the future start helping to hike prices as well.

According to OnePlus CEO Pete Lau, the inclusion of 5G radios, both for sub-6GHz standards and mmWave, will require some reworking of not only smartphone design, but also pricing. Lau says that, at least when it comes to the upcoming 5G smartphone from his company, it will be priced “in the neighborhood of $200-$300 more” than what’s currently available.

If Lau is comparing the future phone to the least expensive OnePlus 6T you can buy right now, that means you should expect the 5G-capable OnePlus to cost around $749. The prices go up from there, depending on specs like available RAM and built-in storage. Could we see a 5G smartphone from OnePlus priced around $1,000?

OnePlus can’t be the only company that’s expecting to see price increases due to the adoption of 5G. But the question will be, how much will those other companies charge more in comparison, and will the benefits actually be worth it? There is no doubt that 5G is a significant improvement in speed and reliability over 4G LTE, so maybe it will be.

But $200 or $300 more? What do you think?

[via The Verge]