Why you should not get too excited for 5G for now

The tough Reality of 5G Rollout

The fifth generation cellular technology—“5G” is all the rage seen in the mainstream as well as the eccentric phone makers, having to offered at least one 5G Smartphone for demo at MWC 2019. With just about every leading mobile service provider (except Apple) prepping their 5G network rollouts, you’ve probably seen 2019 drummed for the beginning of the ultra high speed “5G revolution,” or something similar.
From Samsung Galaxy S10 5G to the Mate X foldable phone, there is something reverberating our curio. However the reality remains that 5G hardware is going to be downright first-generation affair, where early adopters of 5G will have to agree to all sorts of surrender.
While 5G will decidedly be a major step forward for Smartphone & cellular networks alike, claiming to provide a max. Download speed of up to 10Gbps, reducing latency and increasing energy efficiency, the technology is still in its infancy.
5G deployed by Verizon and T-mobile is live in a scattering few cities across the US, and phones that will utilize these technologies will start releasing from mid 2019. We know pretty well where 5G stands at the beginning of 2019 and While all of us await the 5G wave, here is a look at some of the biggest reasons why buying a new 5G capable phone is not worth it in 2019.
Keeping aside the hype for a moment, just look at what a 5G Smartphone in 2019 really means for you.

 FALSE float to “TRUE” 5G network
Perhaps the switch from 4G to 5G will be infrastructure intensive, which means Smartphone service providers are needed to upgrade their underlying hardware countrywide in order to offer 5G speeds. Since this can’t eventuate overnight, they would use the 4G LTE infrastructure to duly migrate to 5G, thus holding off user’s “True 5G”experience. Moreover even when 5G is deployed, it will take the telecoms sometime, say probably till 2020 to achieve the speed 5G promises.
Over next few months or by the end of 2019, you will hear a lot of phone makers launching devices claiming to be 5G-enabled. This is, however, meant to capture the attention, and provide you that “fascinating new thing” that you desired in a Smartphone. So, unless you’re looking for a future-ready phone that you won’t let go off for a few years, it would be wise not to get swayed by the “5G” tag right now, if your city isn’t getting upgraded to 5G anytime soon.

 Unstable Status of 5G
Agree to disagree, but there are network providers still struggling to achieve the speed 4G network offers. It is highly unlikely that we will witness any striking developments in the coming year. Network providers may have augmented the speed of 4G, but 5G still has ways to go. 5G rollout will first likely begin in the US and Europe before marching to other places.
Having said that, U.S, which has been the center of the 5G-related reports, three major mobile carriers (Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile) have taken the task to upgrade the existing 4G infrastructure to 5G. Verizon has already launched its “5G” home service in Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Houston, and Sacramento. Additionally AT&T is also devising to deploy a true 5G network next year.

 Downsides of 5G fragmentation
There are 2 types of 5G networks: sub-6GHz & millimetre wave (mmWave). The sub-6GHz 5G rollout brings to the table slower speeds in exchange for wider coverage, whereas mmWave potentially offers faster speeds but its range is short and its signal can easily be cumbered. Additionally sub-6GHz won’t allow you to connect to a local carrier’s 5G network like you can with 4G when travelling abroad, with countries using mmWave standard, like United States.

 Caught up in coverage (5G)
There’s a logical behind why the 24GHz to 90Ghz frequency range is a free-game; mmWave frequencies are distressed from reception problems and can be obstructed by your hand, trees, walls and even bad weather. Even certain wavelengths can be soaked by oxygen in the atmosphere.
In fact, if those signal obstructions do not exist, there’s still an issue of network coverage. To enjoy the access to the new 5G spectrum, phones, modems & cell towers will require to be equipped with new technology.
Make sure you live in a place where your carrier really supports 5G. Not all carriers will be covering the same places and not all 5G service is going to be equal. “There will be network operators acting militants with their plans, but it certainly make sense to repudiate to reclamations. That said, there may not be a lot of devices ready but it’s important that the networks be ready.”

 Compromised Battery Life & Performance
5G phones will see a drop in battery size—‘like enough’. The same problem occurred with the launch of 4G LTE network. Since then, the technology that capacitates LTE in your Smartphone now operates on single chips that accommodate all essential components—CPUs, GPUs, antennas, etc. These compact chipsets give makers more space for things like RAM, storage, and considerably, larger batteries. Since 5G components access a completely different signal frequency and must be developed with the 5G’s potential drawback sin mind, their independent components are likely to be larger and individualized within the phone, rather than crammed into a single chip, indicating less space designated for the battery, and, inferior performance, Sadly!
5G Smartphone and networks are sure hit their stride, but not soon. For now, we recommend avoid springing up for a new Smartphone especially because it’s 5G-friendly.
4G devices will continue to launch in 2019 and it’s ten—to —one, manufacturers will offer separate 5G and 4G LTE versions in the same device. What’s better? The 4G LTE versions will get cheaper—possibly by hundreds of dollars—but will potentially have better battery life, thus, remaining feasible, fierce options into early 2020 (at minimum).

 iPhones Lovers Yet to WAIT!
Remember when the iPhone embarked on, a decade ago, it was more noticeable for the things it didn’t than it did: the original model introduced without 3G wireless speed, among other things. The same is likely to be the case for the iPhone’s yearly upgrades in 2019.
Apple being extremely conservative when it comes to new hardware, allows its competitors to fight out in new markets while the hardware and software blossom, which in the case of 5G, is probably the smart move. Apple waited for the 4G market to choose LTE over Wi-Max, for instance, and skipped the pain of patience. Same happened for features like fingerprint readers, wireless sync, OLED screens, multiple carriers and multiple cameras.
But we can say with a higher likelihood that the next iPhone won’t feature a 5G radio, so if you’re not an Android person, you can stretch to wait for faster wireless speeds.

 5G v 4G speeds
5G is primarily being pitched to consumers on heralds of delivering ferociously fast network speeds, but in the initial few years at least it won’t be much faster than existing 4G speeds. Theoretically, 5G networks must be able to handle download speeds of up to 20Gbps, but it is also worth remembering that these speeds will be a lot lower once the signal is divided up among all of the consumers in any given area, which actually is not achievable in the real world, at least not in 2019.
For consumers, the 5G specification conditions that individual consumers should note a minimum download speed of 100Mbps and upload speeds of 50Mbps, which is what most 5G buyers should expect in real world day-to-day use, at least until the networks evolve to faster mmWave. It also states that many people, especialy those living in metro areas, are already consummating “5G speeds” with their existing 4G smartphone.

 4G speeds will only get faster in 2019
The Snapdragon 855, which will possibly power almost every flagship Android Smartphone released this year, holds an onboard 4G modem called the X24 capable of reaping benefits of up to 2Gbps in network speeds. Telstra has already facilitated peak speeds reaching 2Gbps over its 4G network wherever 5G is available, providing 4G Smartphone users a significant bolster in speeds and one less reason to upgrade to 5G.

 The 5G tax
A 5G Smartphone needs costly new components before it can connect to a 5G network, and you can expect manufacturers to pass on that cost to you— the consumer. Many manufacturers and carriers are tight-lipped about revealing the 5G mark-up that consumers can expect to pay. However, CEO, Pete Lau of OnePlus admitted that the 5G model of the upcoming OnePlus 7 will cost $200 to $US300 more’ “than the 4G version. Expect the 5G tax from more premium brands to be within the same guesstimate. That’s a brawny bonus to pay for a phone that will probably have less battery life, curtailed performance and a larger footprint than a 4G phone.

 5G-phone-COST— PRICEY BALLPARK FIGURE
Currently, Smartphone that will be released with 5G chipsets, within all bounds of possibility, be whopping more expensive than the first Apple’s iPhone could ever be with a 3G chipset. The new Samsung 10 with 5G capability is expected to cost more than US$1500. Flagship Android phones capable of using 5G would cost far more than US$100 over. Also, it is one thing to have a phone ready for 5G, but without the actual rollout of 5G network, these phones are purely overpriced versions of their regular 4Gcounterparts, if any.
Not only 5G capable phones would cost extra, but the Telecoms will not be offering 5G as part of their typical data plans, in fact, will have premium plans for 5G. 5G data plans will come at higher costs to the user than current data plans and could have far more stringent data caps than their 4G fellow. On that account, without a 5G data plan, the high price of buying a 5G phone won’t be worth.

 Prototype phone
Other than high cost, the first generation of a 5G phone will potentially be more of a prototype than the actual useful handset. Presently, there are no inputs as to how the 5G network will affect the consumer usage habit, optimization for performance. Most companies will just add a 5G chip to the phone and call it a 5G enabled phone, so it’s best to wait until the technology matures.

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