IFA 2018 | ZTE delays its first 5G phone until late 2019

ZTE might be out of the corner, but there are still some rough waters to leave behind until everything is back on track for this Chinese brand. These days, those visiting the IFA 2018 trade show in Berlin can encounter quite a few 5G solutions by ZTE, but it looks like not everything is going as smoothly as planned in this area of the market.

In the past, ZTE confirmed that its first 5G phone would arrive in the first months of 2019. Now, they are pushing the release date of this handset to the last part of the same year. Sadly, nobody can tell for sure what kind of problems are those in charge of the first ZTE 5G handset facing, because there is no official reason for this delay yet.

Building a 5G handset involves more antennas, beamforming, mmWave obfuscation issues, so bringing all these ingredients together might not be as easy as anticipated. Those who want 5G connectivity in a phone right now can grab the Motorola Moto Z3, but the modular accessory required for supporting the new network is far from slim, light, and easy on the handset's autonomy.