Verizon is celebrating the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G today with a new round of speed trials — some even breaking past the 1Gbps mark — and the announcement of 20 cities that will get 5G service by the end of the year. The carrier is also pushing customer incentives to defray the massive cost of its first integrated 5G smartphone.

If you need a reminder, the S10 5G comes with a 6.7-inch AMOLED display, dual selfie cameras, a rear-facing Time-of-Flight sensor, and a 4,500mAh battery (among other things, of course). The base model with 256GB of storage costs $1,300 while the 512GB version is $1,400. It's available to purchase from stores and online today.

Those incentives come in the form of a $200 prepaid debit card for customers who port their number into Verizon and get an S10 5G on a 24-month payment plan on an Above Unlimited or Beyond Unlimited service plan. On top of that, any customer can trade in a device in good working and cosmetic conditions and get either $300 or $450 in monthly credits towards the balance of the device.

Here's the list of devices eligible for $450 in credits:

  • iPhone XS Max
  • iPhone XS
  • iPhone XR
  • iPhone X
  • iPhone 8
  • iPhone 8 Plus
  • iPhone 7
  • iPhone 7 Plus
  • Galaxy S9
  • Galaxy S9+
  • Galaxy S8
  • Galaxy S8+
  • Galaxy Note9
  • Galaxy Note8
  • Pixel 3
  • Pixel 3 XL
  • Pixel 2
  • Pixel 2 XL
  • LG G7 ThinQ
  • LG V40 ThinQ

And here's the list for $300:

  • iPhone 6s
  • iPhone 6s Plus
  • iPhone 6
  • iPhone 6 Plus
  • iPhone 5s
  • iPhone SE
  • Galaxy S7
  • Galaxy S7 edge
  • Galaxy S7 active
  • Galaxy S6
  • Galaxy S6 edge
  • Galaxy S6 edge+
  • Galaxy S6 active
  • Galaxy S5
  • Galaxy Note5
  • Galaxy Note 4
  • Galaxy Note Edge
  • Pixel
  • Pixel XL
  • LG G6
  • LG G5
  • LG G4
  • LG V30
  • LG V20
  • LG V10
  • DROID Turbo 2
  • moto z3
  • moto z2 force
  • moto z2 play
  • moto z droid
  • moto z force
  • moto z play
  • HTC 10
  • HTC One M9
  • HTC One M9+
  • RED HYDROGEN One

In the meantime, members of the press have been invited to trial the S10 5G in Verizon's two active 5G markets: Chicago and Minneapolis. Following last month's spotty experiences with the Moto Z3 and its 5G Moto Mod, expectations weren't the highest. And with confusion as to what that 5G network indicator icon really means, there's reason to be skeptical. It seems, though, that things are working out a bit smoother for the Samsung phone this time around.

George Koroneos, a Verizon press relations representative, was able to pull a downlink of nearly 1.1Gbps while testing in Chicago.

Also in Chicago, CNET's Jessica Dolcourt snapped a picture of the phone taking in a 1.3Gbps connection.

In Minneapolis, however, our Ryan Whitwam is reporting back slightly less impressive results. Expect to see his report soon.

Finally, Verizon has finally put names to the number of cities it will have its 5G Ultra Wideband service (that's millimeter wave spectrum) in by 2020. We had known that in addition to Chicago and Minneapolis that there would be at least 30 other cities waiting in the wings. Now, we have 20 of them listed out:

  • Atlanta
  • Boston
  • Charlotte, North Carolina
  • Cincinnati
  • Cleveland
  • Columbus, Ohio
  • Dallas
  • Des Moines, Iowa
  • Denver
  • Detroit
  • Houston
  • Indianapolis
  • Kansas City, Missouri
  • Little Rock, Arkansas
  • Memphis, Tennessee
  • Phoenix
  • Providence, Rhode Island
  • San Diego
  • Salt Lake City
  • Washington

The carrier will announce more cities later this year.

Source: Verizon

Buy: Galaxy S10 5G