BARCELONA—HTC and Sprint showed off their 5G-to-Wi-Fi router today, a "hub" that goes beyond a mere hotspot by running full Android 9.0 on a 5-inch screen.

The wedge-shaped HTC 5G Hub looks a lot like an Amazon Echo Show. At 5.07 by 3.9 by 1.7 inches and a beefy 12 ounces, it's not a pocket-sized hotspot. It's intended to sit at the center of a small office, hotel room or home and spread 802.11ac Wi-Fi to up to 20 devices or support gaming or streaming video on its own, said Nigel Newby-House, HTC's AVP of product-planning.

"Potentially, this device is an endpoint in its own right," Newby-House said. Its USB-C port has a DisplayPort out, so you can output 4K video to a big screen from the Hub, or play Android games on it using a Bluetooth controller.

Sprint's own press release promotes it as a sort of "Swiss Army knife" for the connected home.

"As a home media center, HTC 5G Hub will harness Sprint's 5G speeds to stream 4K videos to a second screen and deliver crisp and clear content. It can also replace a Wi-Fi router and remove unnecessary cables with a simple plug-and-play setup. Intuitive voice command makes it easy to manage entertainment or play your favorite games on your home TV," Sprint says.

Inside, the Hub has the power of a high-end smartphone. It runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, the same one as in the Samsung Galaxy S10, with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. There's also a MicroSD storage slot. The big 7,660mAh battery can either run the hub "all day," according to Newby-House, or be used to charge other devices. Along with the USB-C and Ethernet ports, there's a proprietary charging port for extra-fast charging.

"Suddenly, you've got your own mobile office for your team to be able to work from," Newby-House said.

All of this will run on Sprint's 5G network, which the carrier is launching in May. Unlike AT&T's and Verizon's initial efforts, Sprint's 5G network uses existing cellular spectrum, which means it will cover more ground more quickly. Initially using 60MHz of 2.5GHz spectrum for 5G, this hub should get speeds up to about 375Mbps, with 100Mbps speeds being common in good coverage areas.

The HTC hub is the third 5G hotspot we've seen so far, and it's certainly the most powerful. AT&T's Netgear Nighthawk 5G doesn't even have an Ethernet-out port. Verizon's 5G MiFi is more portable, but doesn't run Android itself and so cannot host apps.

Can't Take Me Home

The Hub will swiftly set up a mobile office in a remote location or a hotel room. Once you take the Hub home, though, its role becomes confusing.

With its fabric wrap and built-in stereo speakers, the Hub looks a lot like a smart speaker. Newby-House seemed uncomfortable with the idea of using it as a Google Assistant speaker, though.

"We have not worked hand-in-hand with Google through all of their lab testing to make this an approved Google Assistant device," Newby-House said, but "Google Assistant works on the device."

Newby-House also couldn't promise that Sprint will have the appropriate service plans to replace your home internet, and if it can't replace your home internet, why is it in your house?

"Go look at your Comcast bandwidth consumption on a monthly basis—you're probably at 400 gigs," Newby-House said. "In these early days, at least, I think carriers are going to err on the conservative side [with service plans]."

Sprint isn't saying anything about service plans yet. The worst-case scenario would be AT&T's 5G hotspot plan, where a mere 15GB of data will cost $70. Ultimately, that's shaping up to be the first struggle with 5G. It's a transformative network. But without transformative service plans, you'll just hit your data cap a little earlier.

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