(Yicai Global) Nov. 27 -- Huawei Technologies has officially debuted the first handset in its Honor V30 smartphone series that uses fifth-generation mobile network technologies. With a starting price of CNY3,299 (USD470), it is the cheapest 5G handset available to date.

The phones are equipped with Huawei's self-developed Kirin 990 chips, the world's first commercially available 'system on a chip,' and support a wide range of 5G spectrums with high-quality 5G signals. The series also supports both standalone and non-standalone 5G modes and all network formats of China Mobile, China United Network Communications Group and China Telecommunications. 

Sales of the Honor V30 will officially begin on Dec. 5, while the Honor V30 Pro will be available from Dec. 12. The Shenzhen-based tech titan staged the series' grand entree in Beijing yesterday.

Most Honor-branded new products will be 5G-compatible next year, said Zhao Ming, president of Honor, adding their sticker prices are projected to drop to around CNY2,000 or even CNY1,500 by then.

Chinese telecoms equipment maker ZTE's Axon 10 Pro 5G version handset was CNY4,999 before Honor's product launch, and Huawei's Mate20 X 5G version was CNY6,199, while the iQOO Pro 5G version and Xiaomi 9 Pro 5G version started from CNY3,798 and CNY3,699, respectively.

German technological service provider and certification body TÜV Rheinland has granted the first comprehensive 5G certificate to Honor's V30 series.  

Editor: Ben Armour