Best 5G Phone Deals
5G is here to stay. Compared to just a year ago, the number of 5G phones available on the market have sky-rocketed, and if phone manufacturers want to stay competitive they’ll have to include 5G connectivity on their flagship devices.
You can see this across every major recent launch (except Apple’s) in the past few months including the Samsung Galaxy S20 phones, OnePlus 8 and8 Pro, and the Huawei P40 range.
5G promises up to 20 times the speed of regular 4G networks, which translates to 4K mobile streaming, faster video loading and smooth mobile gaming.
You would need a 5G SIM to use a 5G phone, so in most cases buying a 5G phone on contract may make more sense unless you prefer paying for the phone fully upfront and buying the SIM separately. Here we’ve gathered the best 5G phone contract deals in the UK
Keep in mind 5G phones operate with a separate 5G modem inside, which means 5G phones can handle 4G networks and below, but 4G phones cannot handle 5G networks. For more about 5G see our explainerWhat is 5G?
Where to find 5G phone deals in June 2020
You can find 5G phones from most major phone retailers and networks such asThree,EE,Vodafone,O2,Carphone WarehouseandTesco Mobile.
There are several leading retailers offering flagship 5G phones including:
OnePlus 8 5G range
OnePlus announced its latest handsets, the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro at its launch event on 14 April. The phoneswent on salein the UK on21 April, andin the USon29 April. Prices start at £599/US$699. You can get trade in your old phone and get a discount phones – read more about it in ourround up of the best OnePlus 8 offers.
You can also pick up a version of theOnePlus 8 with Amazon Alexa built in for £599. Compare other contract and SIM-free deals using our tool below:
OnePlus 8
OnePlus 8 Pro
Oppo Find X2 range
Oppo’s latest handsets launched in the UK on 27 May and go on sale 10 June but you can pre-order them now and get a free pair of Band & Olfuson headphones worth £350. – .The Find X2 range is available at different price points, though all four models are 5G-enabled: the Find X2 Pro costs £1099, the standard Find X2 costs £899, Neo £599 and Lite £399.
The standard Find X2 isavailable from O2. You can compare prices using our interactive tools below as more offers become available. In the meantime,see our dedicated best Find X2 deals round-up.
Oppo Find X2 Pro
Oppo Find X2 Neo
Oppo Find X2 Lite
Huawei P40 5G range
The latest 5G phones on the market are Huawei’s P40 phones, which include the P40, P40 Pro, and P40 Pro Plus, though the Pro Plus doesn’t go on sale until June. The phones start at £699 SIM-free.
We’re separatelyrounding up the best p40 deals here.
P40 deals
P40 Pro deals
Samsung Galaxy S20 5G range
The latest 5G phones to arrive are Samsung’s Galaxy S20 range, which launched on 11 February at the Galaxy Unpacked event. The devices start at £899 for the S20 5G, £999 for the S20 Plus, and at £1,199 for the S20 Ultra.
See where to pick up the S20 phones SIM-free at the best rate, plus other contract deals inour dedicated deals round up.
Right now you can get4 months of YouTube premium for freefrom Samsung when you buy the S20 until 31 December 2020.
S20 5G deals
S20 Plus 5G deals
S20 Ultra 5G deals
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G
In ourNote 10 Plus 5G comparative review, we said it’s one of the best phones Samsung has ever made, but that 5G feature does make it expensive. The original RRPs place the phones at £1,099 for the 256GB option and £1,199 for the 512GB option. Samsung is currently running a promotion that cuts£100 off the asking pricefor both model.
Contract options are available viaO2,VodafoneandEE.
Samsung Galaxy S10 5G
If you don’t want to splurge on the S20 5G there’s the S10 of course (which received4.5/5 stars in our reviewand a Tech Advisor Recommended badge).
You can buy the S10 5G fromEE,O2andVodafone, all of which offer unlimited data plans.
Vodafone and EE deals on the 5G Galaxy S10 can also be found atAffordable Mobiles,Mobiles.co.uk,BuyMobiles.netandPhones.co.uk.
Samsung Galaxy A90 5G
The A90 may be Samsung’s mid-range 5G option, but it offers a premium Snapdragon 855 processor, a 6.7in AMOLED screen, a 48Mp main camera and a 4,500mAh battery. Here’severything you need to knowabout the A90.
You can find the A90 5G SIM-free from a number of retailers includingCarphone Warehouse,Argos,John Lewis(up to £300 cashback),Very,Littlewoods,Mobile Phones Direct,BTandLaptops Direct.
Samsung Galaxy Fold 5G
If you really want to go all out, you can pick up a folding phone with 5G connectivity. TheSamsung Galaxy Foldwent on sale in the UK on 18 September 2019 with a steep £1,900 RRP.
Not sure what to expect from a folding phone? See ourhands-on review of the Galaxy Fold 5G.
Samsung also launched another second folding phone theGalaxy Z Flipat its Unpacked 2020 event, but this is 4G only.
SIM-free the Galaxy Fold is available fromAmazon,Selfridgesand of courseSamsungdirectly. Contracts are availableonly from EE.
OnePlus 7 Pro 5G
The OnePlus 7 Pro is thebest phoneon the market until the OnePlus 8 (seewhywe gave it 5/5 stars and a ‘Tech Advisor Recommended’ badge in our review). The 5G version takes it a notch further by adding lightning fast connectivity.
The phone is available only via EE –see all plans here. You can use our price comparison tool below to browse the best rates. For all OnePlus 7, 7 Pro, 7 Pro 5G deals, see ourdedicated article.
Huawei Mate 20 X 5G
The Mate 20 X 5G is available in the UK in Emerald Green, starting at £999 (see our review of the standardMate 20 X).
You can pick it up on a 5G plan fromO2andThree. Sky Mobile is also offering theMate 20 X 5G on contract, though 5G connectivity will go live later this year.
SIM-free you can pick up the Mate 20 X 5G withfromCarphone WarehouseandAmazon,where it’s currently £579.99.Mobile Phones Directalso offers the Mate 20 X 5G SIM-free, though there currently aren’t any SIM-free discounts.
Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 5G
Though OnePlus may beg to differ, the first 5G phone to launch in the UK was theXiaomi Mi Mix 3 5G– and it’s also the cheapest 5G phone around. See ourreviewwhere it received 4 stars out of 5 and a Tech Advisor Recommended badge.
You can pick one up oncontract from Vodafone,O2, andThree.
Pick up the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 5G SIM-free fromGeekbuyingandAmazon(though stock may vary).
LG V50 ThinQ 5G
LG has its own 5G offering with theV50 ThinQ 5Gwhich is themanufacturer’s first 5G phone. It’s available from EE starting at£79 per month with a £10 upfront costfor unlimited data.
You can browse other plans over atBuy MobilesandAffordable Mobiles. See other plans below.
Oppo Reno 5G
The Oppo Reno 5G, which is essentially theReno 10x Zoombut with 5G capabilities, is a mid-range option for 5G seekers and is available throughO2.
You can find plans with no upfront cost fromBuy MobilesandAffordable Mobilesas well. Here’severythingyou need to know about the Oppo Reno 5G.
When is Black Friday 2020 – should you wait for a better deal?
Black Fridaywill take place on Friday 27 November, immediately followed by Cyber Monday on 30 November. Traditionally the biggest sales event of the year, it may yet throw up some even greater tech deals – but with so much uncertainty around finance and retail, and no guarantees regarding what discounts we will see, we advise you not to wait: if you see a deal youlike, on a product youneed, and you canaffordthe outlay, buy it today.
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Author: Somrata Sarkar, Contributor
Previously a Tech Advisor Senior Staff Writer, Somrata researches and writes about the best tech deals to help readers make smart, informed buying decisions. She’s an expert on accessories and also reviews laptops, phones, audio and other devices.
