Optus has expanded its range of 5G smartphones with the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G and the OPPO Reno 5G.
The Galaxy S10 5G shares most of its DNA with the standard Galaxy S10 and the larger Galaxy S10+, but there are a few differences. Well, other than 5G connectivity. The Galaxy S10 5G is the largest phone in the S10 family, with a massive 6.7-inch display. It has an extra camera lens on the back for 3D depth sensing (taking it to a total of four). It also has a larger 4,500mAh battery, and can charge at a faster rate. Optus is only ranging the 256GB Galaxy S10 5G.
If you pick up an S10 5G through Optus before October 7, you'll a free Galaxy Watch Active (in black), valued at $349.
As the name would suggest, 5G is a key selling point for the Reno 5G, but it also has a triple rear-facing camera with 10x zoom and a rather unique notchless design. This involves a pop-up shark fin front-facing camera that slides up whenever you want to take a selfie.
OPPO says the fin has "intelligent drop protection" that will hide the camera if it seems like the phone is falling. Instead of facial recognition, the Reno has an in-screen fingerprint reader for biometric authentication.
If you grab a Reno 5G through Optus before October 24, you'll get a bonus pair of Bose QC35 II noise-cancelling headphones, valued at $499.
Read our full OPPO Reno 5G review here.
The pair of 5G devices join the Galaxy Note 10+ 5G, which was Optus' first 5G smartphone.
It's still early days for Optus' 5G network, but the telco says it now has over 200 mobile sites live. These are spread across areas including Sydney, the Central Coast, Melbourne, Mornington Peninsula, Canberra, Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Adelaide, and Perth. Coverage is quite limited, however. Each of these areas only has small patches of 5G.
It's also worth noting that Optus says it currently doesn't have 5G coverage in buildings, so at this stage, you'll need to be outdoors to actually use the telco's next-generation network. That's not great. If you really want to future-proof yourself with a 5G smartphone, it seems like you'll still be stuck on 4G for the foreseeable future.
Optus will be making further 5G announcements in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you can read more about Optus 5G coverage here.
Unlike Telstra, Optus currently includes 5G connectivity as a standard feature on its plans. While Telstra is currently giving customers 5G for free, only its two top plans will have 5G network access included after June 30 next year. Customers who want to add 5G access to a cheaper plan will be up for an extra $15 per month.
Alex Choros
Related Articles
