5G: A real game changer or just a battery sucker?

arpan2308

5G is termed as one of the biggest evolution in tech world presently (in future for some countries like mine India).

Given the global nature of this community, I think this is a right place for some knowledge transfer on this evolving topic.

Is 5G a real game changer? Any major benefit? Incremental use cases? Or is it just a marketing gimmick? Is it just a battery sucker?

Being part of world 2nd largest telecom operator, I can atleast comfortably say that its rollout cost is exorbitant (spectrum + fibre + radios). In India, currently a 100mhz mid band 5G spectrum costs about $5bn. That is just spectrum, not considering rollout costs. Even after spending such huge money, there is no revenue upside. Existence of multiple spectrum bands (700mhz, 3500mhz / C-band and mmwave) complicates it even more.

How has been the experience for you guys who have seen 5G in their geography? I heard MKBHD keeps 5G disabled on his devices, to avoid battery drain.

Would love to hear ur experience. Which bands your country is using?

Atleast here in India, while 5G rollout is almost an year away but still smartphones are being sold as “5G compatible with abc number of bands”. Even we are not sure which band will be ultimately used. Many companies faced backlash for providing just one band which most likely be used in India (3500mhz).

This will be relevant even for Phone(1). Will it be 5G compatible and with which all bands? How much that will translate into extra cost? Worth pondering

Louis ☕️

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.

dinamesya989

arpan2308 really?

Court

My personal opinion is that, 5G is obviously the future and will be great but, is a marketing selling point at the moment.

The average consumer doesn’t care or even knows what it is and what differences it can/will bring. They just care if their device connects to social media or not.

arpan2308

Court Yes, looks more of selling point. I feel 4G speeds are good enough during travel and at home wifi anyways handles well. I doubt people are looking for low latency gaming on the move.

While 5G is not much of use, but it is so difficult to convince yourself to buy a non 5G phone…everyone wants to be future proof

Court

arpan2308 I know what you mean, even currently I wouldn’t buy a phone that wasn’t 5G ready cause theres a small voice in the back of my head that’s like “hey, what if at some point I actually connect to a 5G tower!”

arpan2308

Court Cant agree more. This is how we have become. Dont appreciate what we have, just stay scared / excited about what is to come 😛 #Deep

Sayan_Dutta

Potential of 5G will be realised when there will be diverse use cases, software and services in the future that pushes 5G to its limit. It can make possible certain/or many task remotely. With 5G’s Low Latency, add Google’s Project Starline to the mix, in near future, i don’t see a reason why anyone would go to a university to attend lectures.

Rn it’s just a money making tool for both Qualcomm and leading telcos,😪 but at some point roll out had to commence so why not a bit early. Innovation must go on!

arpan2308

Sayan_Dutta Yes, in long term, it is surely a game changer. Robotics surgery, stadia experience, University lectures, autonomous cars, IoT manufacturing all will leverage 5G. B2C still seems nascent.

Sayan_Dutta

arpan2308 B2C still seems nascent.

Completely agree. Sad state.

Surya_8055

@arpan2308 remember when 4G was rolling out in India. People had such high hopes and the mobile phone manufacturers also started selling them like hot cakes. I think same thing is happening now. But in this case mobiles are manufacturing way ahead of this. Still in some rural areas there aren’t any proper 4G towers. And yet everyone are going towards 5G. Right now it is the major selling point. But 2 days back in IIT, first 5G call was made. I think it will take atleast 2 years to reach and make it a good network.

Also considering the environmental issues this is a bane now.

Sayan_Dutta

Surya_8055 I really think Environmetal issues are man-made. Some people always has some reservations against any new innovation. I really think 5G can be a real game changer, only if poeple use it more in productive things.

arpan2308

Surya_8055 Yes that is there. You need a killer use case for mass adoption. For 3G, it was music & video playback…for 4G it was video calling & gaming. Nothing as of now for 5G. Till the time that use case doesnt up, mass adoption will be difficult.

arpan2308

Sayan_Dutta that is true for every tech. AI, ML & robotics should also be put to productive use otherwise cant imagine what all wrong can happen.

Big problem is that it is a very hard sell for a 4G only phone right now. Even without any use, 5G needs to added in phone, reducing the average selling price. Increasing ASPs adds to current inflationary environment.

arpan2308

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.

Sayan_Dutta

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.

Court

adding 5G is future proofing a devices network connections really.

RobIgo

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.

arpan2308

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

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.

arpan2308

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 ⚡️

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.

arpan2308

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.