Vivo will take the lead in the development of pre-commercial 5G smartphones

Vivo has already completed the initial development of the 5G smartphone software and hardware on their flagship smartphone, the Vivo NEX. The device is running on Qualcomm’s X50 modem and they’ve already concluded the initial architecture planning, 3D placement stacking, RF antenna designs and optimized battery space on the Vivo NEX to make 5G possible on the device.

The 5G version of the Vivo NEX also supports NSA or Non-standalone architecture model that includes dual connection for LTE and New Radio based on the 3GPP Release 15 standards. Vivo has started its research on 5G after the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has released their vision IMT-2020(5G) and the Chinese company has set up its 5G Research Institute in Beijing in 2016 and became its main contributors at the 3GP standard group to develop 5G technologies.

Vivo has also accelerated their efforts for their 5G innovation by activating their 5G antenna and RF related development. They’ve also partnered with China Mobile on the “China Mobile 5G Device Forerunner Initiative” and they’ve been working with Qualcomm on 5G developments including 5G mm-Wave antenna arrays into a Vivo commercial form factor.

This is an exciting development from Vivo and I hope that we get to see a 5G-enabled device from the company very soon.