ZTE teases its 5G-ready Gigabit Phone ahead of MWC 2017

ZTE’s head is clearly in the future, as it announced that it will be bringing the world’s first gigabit LTE smartphone to MWC 2017.

This move comes ahead of the global shift to 5G, which while not necessarily required for gigabit download speeds, will definitely bring such high-speed coverage to many more people around the globe.

However, ZTE states that there’s more to its Gigabit Phone than just connectivity. It will also be able to shoot 4K video that can be stitched together to create 360-degree video. Not just that, it will boast a cloud feature that will allow you to offload or download content on the go. Sounds familiar. Nextbit Robin, anyone?

As The Verge points out, the Snapdragon 835 chipset comes packing the X16 modem that is gigabit LTE capable. So, while carriers around the globe are preparing the infrastructure for the big shift to 5G, at least this phone and probably the Samsung Galaxy S8 will be among the first to greet it when it finally arrives.

We’ll need to wait until MWC 2017 to see the full reveal of ZTE’s Gigabit Phone. But what little we do know about it has us excited, even if it may a little ahead of the game to convince enough people to buy in when it’s released.

Cameron Faulkner

Cameron is a writer at The Verge, focused on reviews, deals coverage, and news. He wrote for magazines and websites such as The Verge, TechRadar, Practical Photoshop, Polygon, Eater and Al Bawaba.