There’s no denying that there has been significant growth in terms of 5G adoption and to access that network you need a 5G smartphone.
There has been impressive growth since the trial phase that started in early 2021 with Kenya’s leading telco finally launching its 5G network in late 2022. Airtel joined the bandwagon a year later, officially launching their 5G network mid-last year. Equitel also launched its 5G network late last month.
With three players in the 5G space, there’s evident growth in terms of 5G subscriptions in the country with the telecommunications regulatory body, CA Kenya reporting that there was positive growth.
5G mobile data subscriptions went from 509,737 users to 586,684 users. This is impressive growth in alignment with forecasted numbers regarding 5G adoption in the country.
NOW READ: 5G Users Increase in Kenya
Safaricom 5G is available in 35 counties nationwide including Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi to Marsabit county. Airtel 5G has expanded to 32 counties in Kenya. while Equitel 5G is accessible across 370 locations from the coast, the lakeside and the north rift.
Why Kenya Has More Smartphone Users Than Feature Phone Users
Telcos aside, Smartphone manufacturers have slowly but steadily launched 5G smartphones in the country in the past few years. To get to enjoy the 5G speeds these networks offer, you’ll need a good 5G smartphone for that.
This list contains both flagship and midrange smartphones to give you a variety depending on how well your pocket is.
Infinix Zero 30 5G – Ksh 39,500
Infinix Zero 30 5G is now an all-time low at PhonePace Kenya – it’s the cheapest flagship phone they have right now. Read our full review here and a separate camera performance review here.
The phone is still a beast and ships with Dimensity 8020 chipset, 21GB of RAM(12GB Onboard and 9GB Virtual) and 256GB of storage. It also comes with Android 13 and XOS 13.1.
It has a 5000mAh battery that supports 68W ultra-fast charging. A quick toss in the charger will have you juice up to 80% in under 30 minutes.
Zero 30 5G has a 6.78-inch curved vibrant AMOLED display rocking a 144Hz refresh rate, peak brightness of 950 nits. It is Gorilla Glass 5 protected and also has IP53 water and dust resistance, stereo speakers, an in-display fingerprint reader and dual microphones.
Zero 30 5G comes with a 108MP primary camera with object image stabilization, a 13 MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro. It has a 50MP selfie camera. All the cameras including the front-facing support shooting 4K 60fps video.
Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G – Ksh 56,000
Redmi Note 13 Pro 5G is powered by the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 which is relatively powerful compared to the Dimensity 1080 chipset of its predecessors.
It has RAM starting at 8GB going all the way to 16GB and storage starts at 128GB going all the way to 512GB. There’s no slot for an external microSD card. It ships with Android 13 and MIUI 14.
Redmi Note 13 Pro comes with IP54 ingress protection, a 6.67-inch AMOLED 12-bit screen with 120Hz refresh rate and 1800 nits peak brightness over its predecessor’s 900 nits. The resolution has been upped to 1220 by 2712 pixels over the 1080 by 2400 pixel of the Note 12 Pro.
It also sports Gorilla Glass Victus over Gorilla Glass 5 of the 12 Pro.
The 13 Pro has a new 200MP setup which is an upgrade over the 50MP from the 12 Pro. They both have OIS support. The other two cameras are an 8MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro. The rear cameras support video recording up to 4K 30fps.
The selfie camera is a 16MP front-facing camera which can shoot 1080p video.
NOW READ: Redmi Note 13 Pro Camera Review: Perfect for Content Creators on a Budget
It has a 5100mAh battery capacity with the same 67W charging.
Other features include stereo speakers and now an under-display fingerprint reader instead of the side-mounted fingerprint reader of the 12 Pro.
Vivo V29 – Ksh 58,500
At its heart, the Vivo V29 has a Snapdragon 778 5G chipset paired with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. You get up to 8GB of virtual RAM too. It launched with Android 13 and FunTouchOS 13 and recently upgraded to Android 14 in early December.
Read our full review here.
Vivo V29 has 3D 6.78-inch curved OLED screen rocking 1.5K resolution(1260x2800px). It is the sharpest screen around with 453 ppi pixel density with 120Hz refresh rate and 1000 nits brightness.
It has a 50MP main camera with OIS, an 8MP ultrawide and a 2MP depth camera. We also have a 50MP front-facing camera.
Vivo V29 has a 4600mAh battery that supports 80W wired charging. 40 minutes will juice it up from empty to 92%.
TECNO Camon 20 Premier 5G – Ksh 56,000
Camon 20 Premier 5G comes with a Dimensity 8050 5G chipset with 8GB RAM, 8GB virtual RAM and 512GB storage. Camon 20 Premier ships with Android 13 and HiOS 13 straight out of the box.
Read our full review here.
Camon 20 Premier 5G has a 6.67″ AMOLED screen rocking 120Hz refresh rate and 360Hz touch sampling rate. It also has It has an IP53 rating.
For cameras, we have a 50MP RGBW Pro primary lens with sensor-shift OIS and support for ultra-steady video, a 108MP ultrawide with autofocus and macro capabilities, and a 2MP depth sensor. It also has a a 32MP selfie camera and an LED flash. Video recording is capped at 4K 30fps for the rear cameras and 1440p(2K) 30fps for the selfie camera.
It ships with a 5000mAh battery that supports 45W fast charging. It’ll take you 51 minutes to get to 86% from empty.
Samsung Galaxy S23 – Ksh 98,000
Samsung joins the list with the Galaxy S23 which launched last year and is still a great buy even with its successors already available.
It is powered by an overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and now has Android 14 and OneUI 6.0 an is in line to get Galaxy AI this month.
Elsewhere, it has a a 6.1-inch dynamic AMOLED screen with a 1080 by 2340 pixels resolution and 120Hz refresh rate slightly interrupted by the 12-megapixel punch-hole selfie camera. While it’s not as bright as the S24 at 2600 nits, the S23’s 1750 nits was sufficiently bright.
The S23 has a glass back and front protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and has a rating of IP68.
It has a floating triple camera setup which includes a 50-megapixel main with OIS, a 10-megapixel 3x telephoto camera with OIS, and 12-megapixel ultrawide. The primary camera can shoot up to 8K video while the front shoots 4K video.
It comes with a 3900mAh battery and support for 25W wired charging, 15W wireless charging and 4.5W reverse wireless charging. It takes an hour and 16 minutes to fully charge it and a 30-minute toss gets it to 57%.
Samsung Galaxy S23 FE – Ksh 83,000
The S23 FE is now cheaper at Ksh 83,000. It is powered by Exynos 2200 chipset, 8GB RAM and storage starting at 128/256GB. It launched with Android 13 and OneUI 5.1. It got Android 14 late last year and will get Galaxy AI later this month.
It boasts some of the design and spec features from the its flagship S23 lineup like the glass back and aluminium frames with the display and the rear protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 instead of Victus+. It retains the IP68 rating from the S23 series.
It has a 6.4″ AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ support with brightness peaking at 1450 nits.
S23 FE has 50MP main with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), same primary camera as the main S23 and S23+, 8MP telephoto(3X optical zoom) and 12MP ultra-wide. The setup supports up to 8K 24fps video recording.
NOW READ: Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Review: Perfectly Balanced
For selfies, we have a 10MP front-facing camera instead of the 12MP found in the main S23 series.
S23 FE ships with a 4500mAh battery. Charging speed is capped at 25W wired, 15W wireless and 4.5W reverse wireless. It’s not the fastest but you can easily top up to 50% in half an hour.
Samsung Galaxy A54 – Ksh 47,000
The Galaxy A54 is a compact phone powered by the 5nm Exynos 1380 and has 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. It shipped with Android 13 and it got upgraded to Android 14. Samsung has promised up to four major android OS upgrades and five years of security patches.
It has a 6.4″ 1080p Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 1000 nits brightness and Vision Booster support. It has Gorilla Glass 5 protection for the display and the glass back.
For cameras, it has a 50MP main with OIS, 12MP ultrawide and a 5MP macro. It also has a 32MP selfie camera. All cameras support 4K video recording.
It has a 5,000mAh battery with 25W charging. It takes 63 minutes to charge it up to 100% and a half-hour charge will top up to 56%.
OPPO Reno11 – Ksh 66,500
OPPO Reno11 has MediaTek Dimensity 7050 chipset paired with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage.
The front is the 10-bit 6.7″ AMOLED curved screen sporting a 120Hz refresh rate, 950 nits brightness, HDR10+ support and 100%+ sRGB/DCI-P3 wide colour gamut.
Reno11 has a 50MP main that now comes with OIS. You’ll still get the usual 32MP portrait telephoto with 2X optical zoom and an 8MP ultrawide. Reno11 has a 32MP selfie camera which can now shoot 4K video just like the rear cameras.
There’s a 5000mAh battery inside the base Reno11 that supports 67W fast wired PD 3.0 charging. A 45-minute charge will get you from 5% to full.
OPPO Reno10 – Ksh 55,000
Reno10 is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 7050 5G processor. It also has 256GB of storage and 16GB of RAM(8GB onboard and 8GB virtual RAM).
Running the show is Android 13 and ColorOS 13.1. It recently got updated to Android 14 and will get up to 2 years of major Android OS updates and 3 years of security patches.
It has a 10-bit 6.7″ AMOLED curved screen with 120Hz refresh rate, 1000 nits brightness, HDR10+ support and 100%+ sRGB/DCI-P3 wide colour gamut.
Reno10 has 64MP primary camera, a 32MP portrait telephoto(2x Zoom) lens and an additional 8MP ultrawide camera. You can record video at 1080p 30fps UltraSteady and 4K 30FPS.
It has a 32MP selfie camera in the cutout and supports video recording with 1080p 30/60fps with Ultra Steady.
Google Pixel 7 Pro – Ksh 77,500
Released in 2022, the Pixel 7 Pro is a great value pick over the Pixel 8 regarding features. Pixel 7 Pro ships with Google Tensor G2 chipset with 12GB RAM and 128/256GB storage. It launched with Android 13 and got upgraded to Android 14.
Pixel 7 Pro has a glass design – both front and back protected by Gorilla Glass Victus and an aluminium frame plus an IP68 rating. It also has the iconic camera visor, part of the aluminium frame.
The front is a 6.7-inch LTPO AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and 1500 nits peak brightness.
The front is a 6.7-inch LTPO AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and 1500 nits peak brightness.
OnePlus Nord CE3 – Ksh 56,500
OnePlus Nord CE3 is the middle child between the Nord CE Lite and Nord 3 but it shares most features with the latter.
It ships with a Snapdragon 782G chipset with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage powered by Android 13 and OxygenOS 13.1 upgradeable to Android 14 and OxygenOS 14. It will get Android OS updates for three years.
Nord CE3 has a plastic body, matte plastic frame, and a glass front sporting the 6.7-inch AMOLED screen with 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ support.
It has a 50MP main with OIS, 8MP ultrawide and 2MP macro. It also has a 16MP selfie camera. The primary cameras can shoot up to 4K while the selfie camera can shoot 1080p video.
The Nord CE3 has a 5000mAh battery and 80W wired charging and takes 31 minutes to fully charge it.
Other features include an under-display fingerprint reader and stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos.
iPhone 15 Pro – Ksh 159,500
The iPhone 15 Pro comes powered by the A17 Pro chipset(No Bionic name next to it) – the same as the one on the Pro Max version. It also comes with iOS 17 upgradeable to iOS 23.
The display is a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED screen with 2000 nits brightness protected by Ceramic Glass. It supports a 120Hz refresh rate and an Always-on display.
It comes with a titanium frame(the same as the Max) and matte glass back and front made by Corning. Apple also ditched the stainless steel for aluminium on the inside which is why it’s lighter than you’d think. It also comes with IP68 ingress protection.
t has a triple main setup led by a 48MP primary camera with OIS, a 12MP ultrawide and 12MP telephoto with OIS and 3X optical zoom(The Pro Max supports 5X optical zoom but the 3X telephoto shots by the Pro are much better). It also has a LiDAR scanner.
The iPhone 15 Pro comes with a slightly larger 3274mAh battery compared to the 14 Pro but smaller than the base 15.
PhonePlace Kenya offers Lipa Pole Pole financing options within three months with deposits starting at Ksh 97,440 and weekly payments starting from Ksh 18,270.
Here’s Why You Should Buy 5G Smartphones From PhonePlace Kenya
If you’re in the market for a a really good 5G smartphone, then PhonePlace Kenya is the online retailer to go to.
They have a seamless online and offline customer experience from buying to checkout. The e-commerce platform provides original smartphones and accessories. They also offer country-wide delivery, and the phones have up to 2 years’ warranty.
Phoneplace Kenya is located at Bazaar Plaza, Mezzanine 1, Moi Avenue, Nairobi, Kenya. You can reach out on their social platforms and call them as well here: 0726 526375.
Articles In This Stream
- Best OnePlus Smartphones to Buy in Kenya Right Now
- Best iPhones to Buy in Kenya Right Now
- Best Google Pixel Smartphones to Buy in Kenya Right Now
- Best Samsung Smartphones to Buy in Kenya Right Now
- Best OPPO Smartphones to Buy in Kenya Right Now
- Best TECNO Smartphones in Kenya and Where to Buy Them
- Best Infinix Smartphones in Kenya and Where to Buy Them
- Best Vivo Smartphones to Buy in Kenya Right Now
- Best Xiaomi Smartphones to Buy in Kenya Right Now
- Best Foldable Smartphones To Buy in Kenya Right Now
- Best Flagship Smartphones To Buy in Kenya Right Now
- Best Budget Smartphones Under 25K in Kenya Right Now
- Best Midrange Camera Smartphones in Kenya Right Now
- Best 5G Smartphones In Kenya and Where To Buy Them
