Telstra puts 5G handsets on sale with Samsung S10 5G

State-of-the-art 5G phones will be in Australians’ hands from Tuesday.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 5G smartphone.

State-of-art 5G phones will be in Australians’ hands this week with Telstra announcing it will sell Samsung’s Galaxy S10 5G from Tuesday.

Samsung is the first to announce 5G phones in the Australian market, but LG is due to announce the LG V50 ThinQ and Oppo a Reno model later this week.

Given the limited roll out of 5G, the Galaxy S10 5G will connect to both Telstra’s 5G and 4GX networks, as well as regular 4G around the country.

Telstra Consumer Executive Kevin Teoh said the first 5G-enabled smartphone was a major step toward bringing the revolutionary mobile technology to life.

“This is a game-changing moment for our customers. We are putting the future into their hands,” Mr Teoh said. “As well as the superior network connectivity, customers will also enjoy the Galaxy S10 5G’s larger 6.7” cinematic display, 3D depth camera technology, a powerful fast charging battery and other exciting features.

Telstra currently is rolling out 5G in 10 cities around Australia. “Over the next 12 months or so we expect our 5G coverage to increase in area almost five-fold and reach into at least 35 Australian cities,” Mr Teoh said.

Users of the older Galaxy S10+ are able to upgrade to the S10 5G at no extra charge if the original phone was obtained through Telstra. Users have 21 days from Tuesday to upgrade.

Additionally, Telstra is selling the Galaxy S10 5G with 256 GB of storage on an XL consumer and business lease plans for $144 a month, paid over 24 months. Users get 160GB of data per month.