Verizon and Samsung will debut 'proof-of-concept' 5G phone this week (Update: We got a photo!)

Update, December 4, 2018 (6:30PM EST): We caught a glimpse  – and snapped a photo – of the Samsung 5G prototype phone at the Qualcomm Tech Summit in Maui.

Original article, December 3, 2018 (10:35AM EST): If you’re excited about getting your hands on a Samsung 5G smartphone, some big news is dropping this week which will surely be of interest to you. During the Qualcomm Snapdragon Technology Summit in Hawaii, Samsung (in partnership with Verizon) will debut a “proof-of-concept” 5G smartphone.

The prototype device will be powered by the as-yet-unannounced Qualcomm Snapdragon 8150 (or 855, we’re still not sure on the proper name), which will also debut this week at the summit.

In addition to the debut of the prototype device, Verizon announced that there will be a Samsung 5G smartphone available for consumers to buy in the first half of 2019.

However exciting this all may sound, there are still quite a few unanswered questions. Is the commercial Samsung 5G smartphone Verizon promised today going to be exclusive to Verizon? Is the proof-of-concept device debuting this week a prototype version of that future smartphone, or is it something else?

We do know that both the proof-of-concept device and the future commercial device will be powered by the new Snapdragon chipset Qualcomm will officially unveil this week. That chipset will be paired with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem, which will enable the phone to connect with 5G signals. Traditionally, the first smartphone to market with the latest Snapdragon 800-series chipset is the latest Samsung Galaxy S device, which in this case would be the Samsung Galaxy S10.

We will have boots on the ground at the Qualcomm Snapdragon Technology Summit, so look forward to more information about this Samsung 5G smartphone as well as full coverage of the new Snapdragon 800-series chipset soon.

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