ADVERTISEMENT

Samsung had a 5G smartphone prototype on display at CES and almost nobody noticed it

samsung 5g prototype phone ces 2019 2
  • Samsung had a 5G smartphone prototype on display at CES 2019 .
  • It's the closest official look we have to future smartphones from Samsung that come with 5G compatibility.
  • A variant of Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S10 is said to come with 5G support.

Strolling innocently through Samsung's massive booth at CES 2019 in Las Vegas, I stumbled upon Samsung's 5G prototype smartphone.

ADVERTISEMENT

There it was, a 5G smartphone prototype from the biggest mobile company in the world, with no fanfare or much interest from any other CES attendee around me. I almost started to believe that only I could see it.

To be clear, the prototype I saw was, indeed, just a prototype. It was the smartphone used to show off 5G capabilities when Verizon and Samsung announced earlier in December that a 5G phone will be coming in early 2019 during a Qualcomm event in Hawaii.I'd doubt that Samsung would brazenly display this device if it had any similarities to the upcoming Galaxy S10, of which one model is rumored to support 5G connectivity.

Still, it's the closest thing we've seen to an official 5G smartphone from Samsung at the moment.

ADVERTISEMENT

Check out Samsung's 5G prototype smartphone:

Antonio Villas-Boas

ADVERTISEMENT

Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider

Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider

ADVERTISEMENT

The phone's screen cycled through a canned demo that showcased some of the device's features and functions. None of the demos appeared to make use of wireless capabilities however, so it didn't provide much insight into what the super-fast 5G wireless data experience will actually be like.

Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider

ADVERTISEMENT

Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S10 is said to have have a hole-punch cutout on the top right of the display. The prototype's corner notch isn't the same thing, but it does show that Samsung is at least experimenting with moving selfie cameras and sensors to a different location away from the top center of its phones.

Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider

All we can assume about a 5G smartphone from Samsung is that it'll include the 5G-compatible model of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 mobile chip. What kind of speeds and performance we can realistically expect from mobile 5G vary greatly. It's generally expected that mobile 5G networks will be significantly faster than the current 4G LTE networks we currently use to stream data on our smartphones today.

ADVERTISEMENT

We'll have to wait and see for a true 5G smartphone connected to a 5G mobile network to find out just how much better 5G will be than what we have now.

See Also:

SEE ALSO: Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S10 smartphone could introduce a completely new design with new features here are 11 rumors about what to expect

FOLLOW BUSINESS INSIDER AFRICA

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Recommended articles

US troop withdrawal from Niger hangs in the balance

US troop withdrawal from Niger hangs in the balance

Detained Binance executives sue Nigerian authorities for human right violation

Detained Binance executives sue Nigerian authorities for human right violation

Nigeria's central bank increases minimum capital base for banks

Nigeria's central bank increases minimum capital base for banks

Sony’s creators convention redefines the creative landscape for content creators

Sony’s creators convention redefines the creative landscape for content creators

Exploring the popularity of progressive jackpot slots in Indonesia

Exploring the popularity of progressive jackpot slots in Indonesia

Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa ranked as Africa's most polluted countries in new report

Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa ranked as Africa's most polluted countries in new report

10 African countries with the lowest life expectancy according to the World Bank

10 African countries with the lowest life expectancy according to the World Bank

Kenyan women are more obese than their men - here’s why

Kenyan women are more obese than their men - here’s why

Africa’s richest man Dangote stands between Europe and $17 billion in revenue

Africa’s richest man Dangote stands between Europe and $17 billion in revenue

ADVERTISEMENT