5G smartphone is here, but 5G isn’t

Lenovo-owned Motorola has launched what it claims to be the first 5G smartphone. Moto Z3 along with the magnetic 5G Moto Mod accessory is touted as Lenovo’s weapon against Google (GOOGL) Pixel 2, Apple (AAPL) iPhone X, and Samsung Galaxy S9. There is one drawback, though. There are no 5G networks that are currently available.

The Moto Mod features an inbuilt 5G modem that is inside a plastic backpack and using magnets and pogo pins to bond with a Motorola Z3 phone. The phone will hit the shelves of Verizon (VZ) on August 16, while the 5G Moto Mod will be made available in early 2019.

Verizon intends to roll out 5G residential broadband service in the coming months and has partnered with Motorola to utilize the service in its Moto Z3. Los Angeles, Houston, Sacramento and an undecided city will be the first to benefit from Verizon’s 5G service later this year.

The smartphone comes with Snapdragon 835 processor, Android 8.1 Oreo, and has a 6-inch Super AMOLED screen. It also features dual 12-megapixel rear-facing dual-LED flash cameras, 8-megapixel front-facing camera, 4 GB RAM, 64 GB of internal storage along with microSD card support, fingerprint sensor and USB-C connectivity.

The phone has 3,000 mAh battery capacity, which might be inadequate when powering a huge RAM size, but it comes with a TurboPower charging support. The smartphone will be priced at $480 without a contract and with 24 monthly installments starting from $20 per month.

The Android 8.1 Oreo OS will be upgradable to Android P, which is the upcoming ninth major version of the Android operating system.

Google is reportedly planning to launch the newest Android version on August 20. Android P, which was introduced at Google I/O conference, is likely to bring new features like new swipe gestures and better notifications.