The 30 V 5G is ready for all varieties of Verizon 5G. | Image: TCL
When Verizon lit up its new C-band 5G spectrum earlier this month, only a handful of flagship phones were ready to use the network. Starting today, there’s a low-cost option if you’re looking to get on C-band 5G right now: the $299 TCL 30 V 5G. Announced at CES, the 30 V 5G is a Verizon exclusive (for now, at least), and it supports all of the carrier’s flavors of 5G: slower but widespread “Nationwide,” very fast but scarce mmWave, and the sweet C-band spectrum that sits in between, both in terms of coverage and speed.
The TCL 30 V 5G features a big 6.67-inch 1080p screen, Snapdragon 480 5G chipset with 4GB RAM, and a 4,500mAh battery — all typical specs for a budget device. It’s one of eight new 30-series phones the company is releasing globally this year, and it follows up on last year’s very good 20S and 20SE budget-friendly phones.
The 30 V 5G won’t be the only affordable C-band option on Verizon for long — a Verizon spokesperson confirmed that the Motorola One 5G Ace UW, also priced at $299, will be getting an update in a few months to enable C-band. And it’s unlikely to be much longer after that before we’ll see C-band capable phones at every price point; Verizon says that going forward, all phones it releases will support C-band.