The cheapest 5G smartphone costs less than $350, but there's a catch

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The cheapest 5G smartphone costs less than $350, but there's a catch
With 5G expanding to more markets, customers are starting to look for smartphones that offer 5G support. For the time being, most 5G-enabled smartphones in the top-tier range cost around $1,000, while the mid-end ones like the Galaxy A71 5G are priced at $600.

However, if you're going for a mid-range 5G smartphone like the Samsung Galaxy A71 5G you might be missing on some premium features that Nubia's latest device has to offer. After teasing its mid-range 5G smartphone last week, Nubia finally introduced the Play in China, an excellent device at first glance.

For example, Nubia Play boasts a massive 6.65-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate, something that's very useful for those playing games on their phones. Since this isn't a flagship smartphone, Nubia chose Qualcomm's Snapdragon 765G processor over the more powerful Snapdragon 865 chipset.

More importantly, the phone is powered by a huge 5,100 mAh battery and a more than a decent quad-camera setup that includes a 48-megapixel main snapper packing a Sony sensor, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera and two 2-megapixel cameras for depth data and macro shots, respectively.


As far as the amount of memory goes, the Nubia Play comes in multiple variations: 6/128GB, 8/128GB and 8/256GB. For the time being, the phone is only available for pre-order in China only, but the price makes it one of the cheapest on the market.

The regular model sells for the equivalent of just $340, while the most expensive model that packs 8GB RAM and 256GB storage costs just $425. The bad news is the prices might be slightly higher outside of China if Nubia decides to make it available in other countries.
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