But what is 5G actually for? (And will you notice the difference?)
It is printed on every tariff and every new phone. What it actually does, when you genuinely feel the difference, and when you are paying for a label you would never use.
- Level
- principiante
- Time
- 10 minutes
- What you need
- Nothing
It is on the phone box, on mobile tariffs, on billboards. 5G is the fifth generation of mobile networks, the system your phone uses to talk to the masts. Before it came 3G, which is when we started browsing, and 4G, which is when we started watching video.
But there is something else you actually want to know. Will I notice?
Mobile network: the link between your phone and your operator's masts, the one you use when you are not on Wi-Fi. Data allowance: how much data your plan lets you use each month. For the same activity 5G does not use more data, it is just faster. Being faster, though, it tempts you into higher-quality video, and that does eat data.
What it actually does
Three things, and you only feel one of them daily.
It goes faster. In good conditions, much faster than 4G. A film that takes ten minutes on 4G can come down in two or three on a 5G connection in good conditions. Assuming your tariff has no speed cap, which I come back to shortly.
It answers quicker, and this is the least-discussed part, for me also the most useful. The gap between tapping and something happening gets shorter. It is why a video call on 5G feels more natural, with fewer of those awkward moments where you both talk at once.
And it copes with crowds. In a stadium, in a square during a concert, at the station on a bank holiday, 4G jams because thousands of phones want the same mast. 5G copes far better when a great many devices are connected at once, though how much better depends on how the operator has equipped that area. Anyone who has tried to send a message at midnight on New Year’s Eve knows the feeling.
When you genuinely notice
You notice if you download large things while you are out and about, from updates to podcasts for the journey, to films to watch on the train. You notice in a crowd, and that is where the difference is sharpest of all. And you notice if you use your phone as a connection for your laptop via hotspot, because there the extra speed turns into work done instead of waiting.
You do not notice if you use your phone for messages, social media, maps, music and the occasional video. 4G already does those well. A photo already leaves WhatsApp in a second, and sending it in half a second will not change your day.
The "5G" in your home Wi-Fi network name has nothing to do with this. They are two different things that unfortunately sound almost identical: that one is a router band, this one is a mobile network.
Two catches worth knowing
The first is coverage, which is not uniform. In big cities 5G is usually there, but it varies a great deal from operator to operator, even along the same street. In smaller towns and in the valleys it often happens that the phone displays 5G and then performs like 4G, because most of today’s 5G networks still lean on the existing 4G infrastructure and the speed depends on how far that has been upgraded locally. So, before paying for 5G, check your operator’s coverage map at your home address and at your work address. It is on their website, and the result is often a surprise.
The second is about the word itself, because 5G written on a tariff is not always real 5G. Many operators sell “5G” plans with a speed cap, say 100 Mbps, which is a good 4G speed. If you are paying a bit extra for 5G, look at the maximum speed written in the terms, not just the label on the poster.
What about battery?
It is true that 5G uses a little more power, especially where the signal is weak and the phone strains to hold on to it. If you are in patchy coverage and your battery dies earlier than usual, try limiting the phone to 4G: on Android under Settings > Mobile network > Preferred network type, on iPhone under Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Voice & Data, choosing LTE. You can switch back whenever you like.
If battery life interests you, I collected seven habits that make it last longer.
If the phone you already own is 5G and your tariff includes it at no extra cost, use it and think no more about it. If they want to charge extra for it, first look at coverage where you live and at how much data you actually use. For anyone using their phone for messages, maps and social media, 4G is still more than enough, and 5G becomes a label you pay for without using it. I would not count on it as a reason to change phone; when you change anyway, take the 5G one at the same price and forget about it.
One thing 5G really does solve
There is one case, though, and there 5G really does solve the problem. It is homes fibre never reached. Home internet over 5G, with a router that picks up the signal from the mast instead of a cable, works better than old copper broadband in many areas and needs no installation work.
Before choosing it, though, test the signal in that exact room, not in the town generally. These offers almost always come with a trial period, and that is the moment to use it. And if your problem is that the internet is slow but you do have a line, first read the six checks to make: the culprit is often a router put in the wrong place.