Following tradition set by the first 4G and LTE phones, the initial wave of 5G smartphones has been very expensive. The Galaxy S10 5G and Note10+ 5G will set you back $1,300, but HMD Global (maker of all Nokia-branded Android devices) wants to make something substantially cheaper.

HMD Global's Juho Sarvikas confirmed to Digital Trends that the company is working on a Nokia 5G phone, which is expected to be roughly half the price of current 5G smartphones. "We see a particular opportunity for us in bringing 5G to a more affordable segment as we enter the market," Sarvikas told the site, "I would love to see us at half of the price where you have 5G today."

As with all new technology, the hardware required for 5G connectivity will only become cheaper as time goes on, so it wouldn't be too surprising to see a phone under $800 or so with the feature. It's possible that Qualcomm's next Snapdragon 800-series SoC will have the 5G modem built-in, instead of being an additional chip, which would bring down the price of entry for 5G.

However, Sarvikas didn't confirm if a future 5G phone would come to the United States. HMD's partnership with U.S. carriers is still limited to a handful of low-end phones sold by pre-paid carriers, but perhaps by 2020, carriers like Verizon and T-Mobile will be more willing to gamble on a Nokia 5G phone.

Source: DigitalTrends