arpan2308 Nice thread, something different to talk about. Like many, I feel like 5G is still the future, once 3G discontinues and 4G becomes obsolete. Probably still talking 5 years at least before it becomes a ‘normal’ thing.

The problem I’ve got with 5G becoming a selling point is the time you will actually be using it for - of course this is different per country, but here’s a UK example - let me explain my day-to-day activity:

Working from home - I’m constantly connected to Wi-Fi so there’s no need/requirement for 5G speeds.

Going to the office - I’m on Wi-Fi until I leave the house, I then connected to 5G for 5 minutes when I walk to the train station and probably don’t even use my phone in this time. At the train station, I connect to the station Wi-Fi (so again, 5G isn’t required). For the entire train journey (1 hour) I’m in/out of Wi-Fi before I get to my stop. Then walk another 5 minutes to the office (connected to 5G, but not really using it) and then at the office I’m on Wi-Fi all day.

The average user probably has a similar experience to the above, except on weekends when you don’t go to the office. With Wi-Fi being almost everywhere, I’m not even sure there’s such a huge demand for 5G speeds if you can get onto a hotspot.

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      Louis ☕️ nice points…you actually living the MKBHD life. On the move in train is the time you need 5G which is very difficult given 5G is based on mid band which anyways have coverage challenges.

      I think one way of 5G which is still possible in countries like UK is the fixed wireless network. So, your train will have a radio unit to connect to 5G and then train will act as a wifi for all the passengers. Given higher bandwidth in 5G, train will be able to transit data for all the passengers.

        Louis ☕️ Broadband Penetration Rate here in India is quite low, people here are mostly dependent on Carrier Data Services to connect to internet. 5G in India can be a great blessing in the coming times, keeping in mind the huge population where we must start doing certain work remotely.

          I personally would buy a phone (and have in the last 12 months) that only has 4G. A bit like Loubear I mainly work from the home or office so it’s not needed - in the car I have Waze on and stream Spotify (set to Very High quality) and it normally never buffers. For train journeys when I know it’s going to be a bit “hit and miss” I always have my content downloaded for offline listening/viewing (128gb storage on a phone is a god send).

          I do however think most people buying a new phone would want 5G because of FOMO and having to have the latest tech etc. and I understand all the benefits of 5G so therefore think it will become the normally in the next few years.

            I keep 5G disabled on devices to avoid battery drain as well. Especially since I’m mostly using WiFi. 5G is amazing got connectivity and speed, but in my use case, and my user experience, I don’t really need it. Infact….I find myself using my OnePlus 7t (a 4G phone) more often than my newer phones and I don’t notice any difference in how I use my phone. I don’t really download anything until I. Get to wifi, so download speeds don’t really matter to me all that much either.

              Great thread - I now feel like I’ve been taking the 5G coverage in the UK got granted! I live in London and have a 5G connection pretty much whenever I leave the house.

              I remember just how exciting it was to see that icon sitting in the status bar for the first time. When it was first rolling out, many carriers charged more for the privilege of a 5G plan … but it’s since become available to most with no additional cost.

              That said, the benefits aren’t immediately obvious to the average smartphone user, it’s a sort of placebo thing I suppose. I don’t regularly download large files whilst on the go - streaming content is how we do things now!

              I also wasn’t aware I could expect a drastic change in battery life by turning it 5G off … I’ll have to do some testing for myself and report back.

                RobIgo FOMO…thats the biggest thing playing out. That fear is actually pushing more customers and telecom operators. In FOMO, customers are spending extra on 5G devices and in FOMO that other telecom operator will rollout 5G before them & they will lose premium customers, the telecom operators are spending early on 5G.

                  Antonio_Luis A clear example of missing killer use case. Even if you are keeping 5G disabled and preferring to use 7T, can you currently dare to buy a non-5G phone? I went so close to buying Pixel 4A (latest pixel available in India) but didnt given that is only 4G. Funny part is that India is yet to see 5G spectrum auction.

                    Rob ⚡️ “available to most with no additional cost” …that is another issue with 5G. Operators spend huge amount of money on spectrum, radio & towers just to stay ahead of competition, but their is no revenue upside. Customer continues to pay the same. In short, zero incremental return on capital employed on that huge 5G investment, atleast in the near term. B2B obviously starts giving revenue but the scaleup there is very slow.

                    Yup, do try switching off 5G. While I have never experienced 5G, but what I heard is that constant connection with 5G drains the battery heavily.

                      a month later

                      Like some of you, I think 5G is not very important right now, where I live in France, I don’t even have 4G everywhere, so I would prefer more storage or more battery than a 5G compatibility

                      I think 5G will be important going forward because of the speed and spectrum it covers but I agree we’re a couple of years away from it being the norm everywhere. I do think any mobile devices coming out should be 5G as a future proof and also many cities already have it . Here’s hoping the phone (1) is?

                      a year later
                      2 months later
                      25 days later

                      YES!

                      Before 5G (maybe even 4G) is rolled out most places, talk about 6G will start. Here we have 5G, and I actually see no difference from when it was 4G.

                      When 3G was the thing, that was fast enough.