Telstra says HTC's 5G Hub will be Australia's first 5G device

The race is on: Telstra has made the claim that the HTC 5G Hub modem will be the first 5G device available in Australia. Telstra, of course, will be ranging it, although no dates have been given other than second quarter of this year.

"We are working with the very best in 5G and mobile broadband to bring our customers the next generation of devices and enable a future of greater connectivity," said Telstra Consumer Segment Executive, Kevin Teoh.

"Telstra is proud to partner with HTC on the launch of the world’s first 5G mobile smart hub, which will be Australia’s first 5G mobile device."

The HTC 5G Hub is a portable modem based on a Snapdragon 855 processor and a 7,660mAh battery. It can support up to 20 simultaneous devices over Wi-Fi, and also has an Ethernet port for connecting wired devices.

There's more to the Hub than just 5G connectivity. Since it runs Android Pie, the HTC 5G Hub is almost an entertainment device. There's a 5-inch 720p touchscreen, support for Android apps (such as Netflix), and a USB Type-C port for connecting it to external displays.

Other key specifications include 4GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage.

Neither HTC or Telstra have announced any pricing for the 5G Hub yet.

Today's news follows Telstra announcing its initial 5G smartphone partners yesterday.

Alex Choros

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Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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