ZTE unveils world's first pre-5G concept phone

ZTE's Gigabit Phone is on display during the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain, February 26, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Chinese telecom conglomerate ZTE Corp unveiled a prototype handset on Sunday, embracing 5G even before it's commercialized for smartphone users.

Dubbed Gigabit Phone, the device, which will go into mass production early next year, will become the world's first smartphone with download speed reaching up to 1Gbps, 10 times faster than most of the existing handsets.

"ZTE is an end-to-end solution company that focuses on 4G and 5G network evolution," said Lou Wei, product head for Devices and Terminals of ZTE North America, at a pre-Mobile World Congress (MWC) news briefing.

"We'll utilize technology innovations to improve our smartphone's experience," he added.

"Thanks to ZTE's technology strength in 5G and pre-5G Giga+ MBB solutions, the ZTE Gigabit Phone is three times as powerful at improving data processing capability in the current network," said the company in a written statement.

The new phone, powered by the Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 mobile platform, integrates the Snapdragon X16 Long-Term Evolution modem with a series of ZTE's R&D optimization techniques to achieve the download speed.

The improved download speed will enhance users' experience by allowing for 360 degree panoramic VR video, instant cloud storage, entertainment upgrades and fast cache of ultra hi-fi music and movies, and instant APP, which removes the need for download or installation of applications.

James Yan, research director at Counterpoint Technology Market Research, said the phone reflects a new trend that in the next 10 years, 5G-driven applications, such as real sense augmented or virtual reality contents will be provided to smartphone users.

"Smartphone industry will witness an evolution as 5G enhances the speed of data transition and communication between users," Yan said. "Except for the infrastructures improvement made by the mobile carriers to embrace the 5G era, the commercialization of 5G will bring new applications such as improved live streaming, high-quality online video and even new approach for online social to the industry."