Phones equipped with 5G will not be cheap, according to OnePlus CEO Peter Lau. Speaking to Phone Scoop on the sidelines of the Qualcomm Snapdragon Tech Summit, Lau suggested that 5G technology may add as much as $200 to $300 more to the cost of phones such as the OnePlus 6T. The 6T, which went on sale earlier this year, has a starting price of $549 -- putting the anticipated price of a 5G variant as high as $849. Even at $849, however, the cost of a 5G-equipped OnePlus 6T falls well under the cost of flagship phones from Apple and Samsung, which breach the $1,250 mark. Lau noted the cost increase would help cover the research and development investments the company has made to engineer 5G capabilities into its product line. The company has done what it can to keep the cost as low as possible. The 5G device from OnePlus in question, to be launched first with EE in the U.K., will rely on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor. It may or may not be the first device to launch with the new silicon from Qualcomm. The company has not revealed any other features of the phone, other than to say it won't be a wholly new flagship. The four major U.S. carriers plan to launch mobile 5G service starting later this month with deployments stretching into 2020 and beyond. OnePlus has not specifically stated that its 5G device will come to the U.S. Carriers AT&T and Verizon Wireless suggested that consumers will pay whatever it costs to adopt 5G technology.


More...