Malaysia’s first 5G smartphone is launching next week

We’ve seen a couple of flagship smartphones being launched in Malaysia recently but none of them comes with 5G support. The iPhone 11, Samsung Galaxy Note 10, Huawei Mate 30 and even the Galaxy Fold are only available with 4G LTE. For those who refuse to get a new smartphone unless it comes with 5G, there’s a new device from Vivo just for you.

Following its launch in China, Vivo Malaysia will be introducing the Nex 3 with 5G. It’s scheduled to launch on the 17th October and this is possibly the first 5G smartphone to be available officially in Malaysia.

The Vivo Nex 3 5G features a 6.89″ “waterfall” display that pushes a Full HD+ resolution on a Super AMOLED panel. Like any Vivo device, it also gets an in-display fingerprint sensor. It runs on a Snapdragon 855+ processor that can be configured with up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage.

For imaging, it gets a triple-camera setup with a 64MP f/1.8 main shooter, a 13MP f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle camera and a 13MP f/2.48 telephoto shooter. Similar to the original Nex, it also gets a 16MP f/2.09 pop-up selfie shooter.

Similar to what we’ve seen on the Vivo APEX 2019 concept smartphone, the device doesn’t get any volume rocker and it features virtual buttons called “Touch Sense” that also offers haptic feedback. Powering the device is a huge 4,500mAh battery and it supports Vivo’s 44W Super FlashCharge technology via USB-C.

Out of the box, it runs on Android 9 with FunTouch OS 9.1 skin on top. In China, the Vivo Nex 5G is priced at CNY 5,698 (about RM3,343) for the 8GB RAM version and CNY 6,198 (about RM3,637) for the 12GB RAM variant.

At the moment, there are no networks in Malaysia offering 5G service for consumers. According to the MCMC, the spectrum for 5G will be determined earliest by Q1 2020 and it will be ready for commercial use in the second half of next year. How soon it will be available depends on the telco’s deployment plans.

Related reading