Confirmed! Realme 5G smartphone to be launched in India this year

In a move that may allow Realme to take a lead over its competitors, the smartphone maker would become one of the first brands to introduce a 5G smartphone in India. Realme India CEO Madhav Sheth has announced that the firm would be among the first handset makers to launch 5G products this year. "#5GisReal... Straight out of meeting room with Sky Li. Glad to share with you our latest R&D updates: #realme will be among the first brands to bring 5G products globally this year. And we are determined to bring the best of technology to India as early as possible," Sheth said in a tweet on Thursday. 

This comes almost a month after the smartphone manufacturer said it would launch 5G handsets once the network is ready in China and India. Speaking to media last month, Sheth had said that the timeline for launching 5G phones is, so far, not clear. "We will be launching 5G services much before the operators... we want consumers in India to enter 5G services as such," Sheth said.

#5GisReal .... Straight out of meeting room with Mr. Sky Li. Glad to share you our latest R&D updates: #realme will be among the first brands to bring 5G products globally this year. And we are determined to bring the best of technology to India as early as possible. pic.twitter.com/cVNOA6f9Iw

— Madhav 5G (@MadhavSheth1) June 6, 2019

Interestingly, the 5G services are unlikely to be available in 2020. The Indian government plans to roll out 5G connectivity services by 2020 and the trial run for the operators for a three-month period are expected to start this month. The trial period might be extended for a year if the operators need time for stabilisation. All major telecom operators in India - Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea - are gearing up for these 5G trials.

Meanwhile, Realme had recently launched its latest phone - the Realme X - with a Snapdragon 710 chipset, 8GB RAM and a dual-camera setup with a 48MP camera and a 5MP depth sensor. It is expected to be launched in India in second half of the year. 

Realme started as a sub-brand of Oppo in India and has expanded to other countries including Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. It split from its parent company Oppo in July last year. The device maker, which came into existence in May 2018, was among the top five smartphone brands during the fourth quarter of 2018.