Honor 5G smartphone to arrive in the second half of 2019

Huawei sub-brand Honor has announced plans to launch a 5G smartphone by the second half of 2019. Honor’s President, George Zhao had all but confirmed the news of the 5G supported phone in an interview with Android Authority. Zhao didn’t really provide much in terms of details, apart from confirmation of the release. Zhao had talked-up the release of a 5G compatible device back in September 2018.

Over the past few years, Honor has gained its own identity. The brand has become synonymous with the budget and mid-range market space. The Huawei sub-brand has often shied away from the flagship range, but with the recent release of the Honor View 20, is evidence enough of the winds of change.

Also Read: Honor View 20 vs OnePlus 6T: Which smartphone should you buy?

In the meantime, Huawei has wasted no time in getting their 5G masterstroke ready for the Mobile World Congress 2019. At a recent event at China, the company’s Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu confirmed the smartphone giant's plans with launch a new 5G compatible smartphone based on Huawei’s own Hisilicon Kirin 980 SoC and Balong 500. He further reiterated the capability of the Balong 5000 5G modem, stating that it could offer up to 6.5 GBps of 5G speeds.

However, Honor’s plans could all be throttled by recent sanctions placed on its parent company. Huawei’s relationship with the United States government is frosty, to say the least. The company faces 13-counts of indictment in the country, not to mention the ban of Huawei’s telecommunications equipment for 5G networks in New Zealand and Australia. And, the company’s problems could only worsen if neighbours Japan also decide to follow suit.

Also Read: Verizon tests 5G with world's first '5G-upgradeable' smartphone Moto Z3

That being said, none of these sanctions or restrictions has impacted Huawei’s business across European, Indian and Chinese markets. The company has grown significantly in the past few years and has shown no signs of slowing down, overtaking Apple as the second-largest manufacturer of smartphones in the world. And, unlike Huawei, the Honor brand has embedded itself in the budget and mid-range markets, a space that has seen considerable innovation and growth in the last couple of years. With Honor, it's best to expect the unexpected, which in this case could just be a 5G smartphone and ecosystem for the budget to mid-range market space. Now wouldn’t that be something!