POCO claims Indias most affordable 5G phone coming soon

POCO has said it will soon launch the “most affordable 5G device in the market.” Replying to one of the replies to his post about an upcoming partnership with Airtel, POCO India head Himanshu Tandon said the smartphone will be launched as part of the partnership with Airtel. He added that this will not be an “Airtel version” of an existing device, hinting at a new phone that will be carrier-locked.

In 2022, Techlusive reported about POCO’s plan to forge partnerships with telecom operators for more affordable phones. Tandon had then said that the brand was exploring partnerships with companies such as Airtel and Reliance Jio to offset the cost of phones in a bid to make them more competitive. Months later, POCO announced a partnership with Airtel to launch a C-series phone. The upcoming phone will be the second device to offer customers the benefits of this partnership.

'POCO X Airtel' another partnership! Coming soon!#5GRevolution #5GDisruption #5G

— Himanshu Tandon (@Himanshu_POCO) March 5, 2024

When a user asked Tandon whether this phone would be a new POCO Neo series or an F6 series device, he mentioned that it is not an Airtel version of an existing model.

How affordable will the POCO phone be?

Tandon’s claim that this device will be India’s most affordable 5G phone does not give clarity on the price point, but he may be hinting at a phone at around Rs 9,000. The current lineup of 5G smartphones under Rs 10,000 includes the itel P55 5G and the Lava Blaze 2 5G, both of which are currently selling for about Rs 9,999. To become the most affordable 5G phone, POCO must undercut these phones while offering competitive specifications and features. The partnership with Airtel will likely allow POCO to do that.

At the moment, there is no information on when this POCO phone is coming to market, but we should begin seeing leaks ahead of the launch. “Coming soon!” said Tandon in his post on X (formerly Twitter).