The wait is over as the 5G has hit the market in spring 2020. For those who were waiting for this moment to come can see 5G advertising everywhere around the United States. The main concern is whether it is necessary to buy a 5G mobile phone in 2020? To clear out all your doubts and concerns, we have brought this guide for you to help you decide whether you should buy a 5G phone in 2020.
Many brands have launched or are soon to launch 5G phones including LG, Motorola, OnePlus, and Samsung. However, Apple is still working on the upcoming 5G phone that is expected in September this year. There are a lot of advantages and disadvantages of getting a 5G phone this year. It can cost you a fortune if you do not have a budget of at least $500. On the other hand, if you have a budget and you are tired of your 4G phone, then voila, get ready to experience the fastest speed phone. If your area does not support 5G then in the next two years, it is going to and eventually, 5G phones will take over. Before spending too much on a 5G phone, we would first want you to go through this guide to help you make a decision.
We will compare the 5G and 4G networks, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of having a 5G phone so soon. Let’s move forward to know all the information that you need to know about 5G mobile phones.
What is a 5G smartphone?
A latest and upgraded version of 4G, called 5G, is soon taking the technology world over with its fastest speed and other benefits. So this leads us to the question that how faster is a 5G phone? It totally depends on the area you live in and the network you are using. As the 5G is on its initial stage, you can expect improvements in your day-to-day life.
How would you like a movie to be downloaded in just one or two minutes? It might be a fantasy right now but you are going to experience it soon in a year or two with 5G smartphone. 5G might seem confusing right now as it has three different bands that include low, mid, and high bands. All these bands have different functionality. The low-band functions more like 4G. The technological world has always brought changes for us.
Just like 4G made us all thrilled when it came in 2010, 5G will also make things faster and bigger for us. 5G is the fifth-generation in the wireless technology world which is going to be better than the previous generation. 4G (including LTE and WiMAX) scaled up to provide us with a better level of speed up to megabits or even gigabits. So one thing is clear that 5G will be even more responsive and faster and it will take much less time to download or upload things. Brands are going crazy over it to come up with the best 5G smartphones and the fastest next-generation speed. But hopefully around in the next two years, 4G will be replaced with 5G smartphones as it is going to be 300 times faster with zero lag.
What is the difference between 5G and 4G mobile phone?
Here are the differences between 5G and 4G mobile phone:
- First of all, it is already clear that 5G is much faster than when compared to 4G. Currently, 5G smartphones have the highest data speeds that are available to customers. That is because of its range of electromagnetic radio frequencies that transmit data much quicker around the country.
- Another major difference between 4G and 5G is the latency. Latency is the time interval between that sender and the receiver. 5G has a low latency that means that the files and other data can be shared much faster without them being crashed. There will be no buffering time when you will be watching 4K movies using 5G.
- Furthermore, 5G will also provide other benefits that 3G or 4G are unable to offer. 5G smartphones will efficiently be able to handle home products, driverless cars, or other emerging technologies.
- Last but not least, 5G will be able to cover the large capacities of consumers that includes different industries and smart cities. Although it needs much more time and investment by the governments to be able to completely switch to 5G. But once the 5G smartphones are and will be the most efficient devices that consumers will experience for another decade.
Will 5G replace 4G in 2020?
A frequently asked question regarding the new high-speed data network type, but will the new 5G be able to take over its predecessor 4G?
As new more capable devices roll out each year, internet speeds have developed over the years as well. 5G is believed to be roughly a hundred times faster, efficient, and smarter than 4G. Yet the question regarding whether 5G will take over in 2020 can simply be put into the word “No”. In order to completely understand the reasoning behind this, we’ll delve into the key difference which makes 5G faster than 4G and what makes it unlikely to take over soon.
Firstly the 5G technology is almost non-existent around the globe, only select districts have the 5G towers and are only able to cover small blocks of certain controlled areas in the USA. Secondly, 5G towers although capable of high-speed data transmission, are not able to spread transmissions over a larger area as compared to 4G network towers. Hence for example, if two 4G towers are needed to cover a residential district, 5G towers will have to compensate for their high-frequency wavelength by installing four or five. This exponentially increases the cost for a premium bandwidth which most current phones are not capable of using. It’s not like a phone receives a software update and is automatically 5G ready, it requires special antennas to be built into the phone to receive that specific radiofrequency. The 5G towers are however smaller as compared to their slower counterpart 4G, but a complete leap still does not seem justified as of yet.
Studies even show that due to the high frequency of 5G, not only does it require the user to be at a close distance from the transmitters but also be in a direct line to achieve maximum speeds, which is a total bummer since the waves will not be able to pass through obstructions like walls, trees, and buildings. Which would require even more 5G towers to be installed in the first place. A daunting step to take for the future, but for speeds like that, it’s worth it, just not in 2020.
Is it necessary to buy a 5G phone in 2020?
Buying a new phone is always a serious investment, as you’ll most likely be using the same device for roughly the next two years. A lot of factors go into selecting the device that best suits you, but 2020 devices have brought another category into the mix. 5G enabled devices are rolling out from a premium brand like Samsung, but these devices also come with a premium price tag. A normal Samsung Galaxy S20 will set you back as much as a thousand dollars, but a 5G version of the same device will set you back twelve hundred dollars. An insane difference considering the only difference is the addition of an upgraded antenna to a network that isn’t fully available yet. So buying a 5G enabled device in 2020 does not seem like a necessary step, but as mentioned before most users keep their devices for 2 years or more.
An investment to future proof your device for the foreseeable future suddenly doesn’t seem like a bad idea now does it? It all depends on how fast 5G catches on and is implemented at a vast scale, as mentioned in the previous query regarding whether 5G will take over 4G in 2020. 5G is no doubt miles ahead of 4G, and its capabilities blow the cap off for previous network speeds. Incomparable. We’d suggest you wait to grab a new phone until next year’s devices roll out, then you’ll have more options to choose from and minor heating/battery issues will also be resolved. If you’re in need of an update very soon, going for a more expensive 5G version will do you more help than harm, as you won’t need to upgrade sooner saving you 5 times the amount you initially spent. So to put it all into simple words, no. Buying a 5G phone in 2020 is not the way to go. 5G still needs time to develop, be refined, and mainly be more widely available for the users to transition to it. So hold on to your horses, or should we say smartphones, who knows what 2020 has in store for us. Whatever it is, a complete 5G haul isn’t one of them!
