LG Electronics said May 8 it will release its first 5G smartphone, the V50 ThinQ, this week, after working for weeks to ensure its performance under the new network standard.

The tech giant had initially planned to launch the V50 in South Korea in late April but pushed back the schedule to optimize the phone‘s functions and network interoperability with the existing LTE network.

It will be the second 5G phone in the domestic market, following Samsung’s Galaxy S10 that hit shelves April 5.

The company said it is accepting preorders and will offer a free detachable second screen for those who buy the device by the end of June.

LG has been exploring ways to reverse the fate of its sluggish mobile business, which has posted operating losses for eight consecutive quarters.
The V50 uses the US tech giant Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 855 chipset and its X50 5G modem. Its 128-gigabyte model costs 1.2 million won ($1,054) in the domestic market.

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)