Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “A Day On A 5G Phone: Fast, But Finicky”.
[, Michael ], Ever since the whole 5G hype train kicked into gear. My friends at Android Central have said the same thing “. You should not buy a 5G phone in 2019.”. The networks aren’t mature enough. The phone selection isn’t broad enough. It’S just too early.. Well, I found a way to prove those folks.
Wrong. Turns out. There are actually a few people who should buy a 5G phone.. The thing is they all pretty: much live in this building: right, here., (, upbeat, music, ), Chicago home of striking architecture, delicious cheesy, popcorn, disproportionate number of my old college friends, and one of only a handful of 5G networks in the USA.
Samsung brought me out here To experience that network, along with some familiar faces on this phone right here., The 5G version of the Samsung Galaxy S10, is bigger and heavier fitter, happier more productive. You name it., It packs a larger screen and more cameras than any other Samsung.. It’S also got the biggest battery. And for the first time in years, a faster charger., But while you’ll see plenty of footage from this phone’s cameras in this article, I’m really here to talk about the network., What using 5G for the first time felt like.. In short, it’s fast and it’s frustrating. Fast part first.
Using a Galaxy S10 Plus on Verizon’s 4G network alongside the 5G version here. Well, of course, 5G is a lot faster. In my testing. The download difference was about three to five times faster on 5G.
And, since I know watching speed tests is about as fun as watching paint dry. Here’S a real world, example. You’re about to get on a flight or underground on the subway, and you forgot to download a game to pass the time until the last minute.. Well, even with something as big as Asphalt 9 that weighs in at 1.7 gigabytes.
It actually takes longer for the phone to install the game than it did to download it. Better example. For someone like me, who’s always got headphones on.. Even if you crank up the quality to maximum on Spotify, a 5G connection can pull down an 81-song playlist in less than a minute..
It’S one thing for the manufacturers to promise you these kinds of speeds, it’s another to hold a phone in your hand and watch how fast it is., (, calm, music, ). Unfortunately, the same technology that makes it faster also makes for the frustrating part. See. 5G stands for fifth generation: it’s not something simple, like a software update to your phone., Actual 5G connections, ones fast enough to give you these speeds require a whole new kind of network.. It’S easy to tell the difference. Where a regular, 3G or 4G cell site is usually mounted on a big tower like this. A 5G node is small enough to fit on top of a light pole like this., But the flip side is that there are gon na. Have to be nodes like this everywhere in 5G cities.
And that’s because they’re operating at much higher frequencies.. Let’S illustrate what I mean using a piece of the Chicago skyline and say the Willis Tower. Is the radio frequency spectrum., The cell phone? You use right now probably operates mainly around the 800 megahertz band, which would be almost at the bottom around the second floor., Your WiFi router at home, That broadcasts between 2.4 and five gigahertz, which would be up here between the fourth and sixth floor.
Verizon’s 5G uses The millimeter wave spectrum between 28 and 39 gigahertz – that’s way up here at floor 103, which I visited on my trip and a quick look down, will reinforce just how very high up it. Is., Now being up that high in the spectrum is what allows 5G to offer such fast speeds.. But it also means those signals, can’t travel as far and can’t penetrate obstacles as well. During my day in Chicago the difference between holding onto a 5G signal and losing. It was literally the difference between walking five feet or putting a phone on the wrong ledge..
Even ducking behind a tree or being on the other side of a window would sometimes cause the connection to fall back to 4G.. Now, Sprint and T-Mobile are going with a different approach to 5G in a lower part of the spectrum. But look it’s possible to build a solid 5G network where Verizon is doing it.. You just need a ton of infrastructure that they’ve barely started building..
This explains why all of us media folks who’ve been invited to test it have kind of done. The same things performed speed tests downloaded big apps., It’s not because we were required to. It’s because the network isn’t ready for much else.. The number one thing I wanted to try was a video live stream or see how long it would take to upload a huge video to YouTube..
But when I visited the network wasn’t even using 5G for uploads yet., The phone would fall back to 4G for those.. I asked Verizon why it was selling 5G phones when the network was barely online.. The company didn’t give me a straight answer, but it’s not hard to figure. Out. Jut Google “, Who was first to 5G ?” And you’ll, see a few companies jockeying for that. Recognition. Yeah, it’s a prestige thing and it’s also a money thing., As Reuters points out. The entire industry is expected to generate over $ 12 trillion by 2035..
That’S 12 trillion per year., But we’re in 2019.. So if you buy a Galaxy S10 5G today, what are you getting for your almost $ 1300? Well, much of the same stuff you get on the far cheaper Galaxy S10, which, if you’ve watched my review you’ll know, is hardly a bad thing.. Don’T forget those bonuses like the bigger battery and display the better charging brick and the extra cameras. If you live in Chicago or Minneapolis right now, you’ll also be able to try out 5G for no additional charge, since the company is waiving its $ 10 a month Fee for now. Verizon’s spin on this is that buying one of these or an LG.
V50 is future-proofing yourself since it plans to launch 5G in another 28 cities before the year is out., And if you live in one of those well, your phone will already be ready.. Look. Verizon’S network has improved substantially, even in the weeks since that first wave of underwhelming coverage., And even if you’ve watched an hour of American TV in your life or seen one billboard.
You know how zealously the company guards the reputation of its network.. I have to believe it’s going to deliver a quality 5G experience once that network is fully deployed.. Until then, though, I have to say that my friends at Android Central are right. Unless you happen to live at a corner like West Grand and North Franklin in Chicago.
There’S still little reason to buy a 5G phone, just yet. If you do buy one and you wan na protect that mirror finish folks get a dbrand. They’re, my sponsor and they make the best vinyl skins in the business.. From my usual favorites concrete and swarm to the flashier carbon fibers and dragons, that might be a better fit for such a cutting edge device.
Hit the link in the description for those. And, if you’ve used a 5G phone on any network. I wan na hear your experience. Sound off down in the comments.
Disclosure. Samsung flew some members of the media to Chicago for this test, including MrMobile, and took us to the top of the Willis Tower and for a ride on the river to test the phone.. Neither Samsung nor Verizon received editorial input or an early look at this video, though they’re seeing it at the same time you are. Please subscribe.
If that’s the kind of tech coverage you value on your YouTube and check out Pocketnow and Tim Schofield’s videos of this same experience at their channels linked below. Until next time, thanks for watching and stay mobile, my friends .