HTC has announced a mobile smart hub that utilises a 5G network to provide superfast broadband in the home and when travelling.

The HTC 5G Hub is a mobile hotspot that is as comfortable indoors as it is out. It will be carried by networks across the US and Europe, including Three and EE in the UK, Deutchse Telekom in Germany and Sprint in the US.

It sports a 5-inch HD touchscreen on the front, to manage connections and check 5G signal strength and speeds. And, as it has Android 9 Pie installed, it will even work as an Amazon Echo Show-style device, capable of playing apps and games.

The Hub will also work as a media center, capable of streaming 4K video over Wi-Fi to a connected device. HTC even claims it will work well for gaming, exploiting the low latency properties of a 5G data connection.

Inside, it is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 mobile chipset and X50 5G modem. A separate remote is also included although voice control is supported too.

The Wi-Fi tech on board is made by Qualcomm too (802.11ad equivalent) and capable of multi-gigabit speeds. A connected device should therefore be capable of downloading and uploading at the same data rates as offered by the 5G connection. You do not need a separate 5G device to benefit.

There is also a Qualcomm 2x2 Wi-Fi 6-ready chipset built in for next-generation performance when matched with supported devices.

It comes with a wired power connection plus an interior 7,660mAh battery for portable use.

Up to 20 devices can be connected by Wi-Fi simultaneously and a Gigabit Ethernet port on the rear can be used to scale up your home or business Wi-Fi. By connecting a mesh network system, for example.

The HTC 5G Hub was announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and will be available from the beginning of spring. That does depend on the region and each carrier's 5G network launch schedule, of course.

Pricing is yet to be revealed.