THE YEAR OF 5G
We’re on the cusp of a mobile revolution: as new 5G phones connect to new 5G networks across the UK, you’ll be able to enjoy super-fast, super-stable data access that can stand up to the most crowded of networks
More phones, more cities, more coverage… 2020 is the year to get serious about 5G
5G isn’t just on the way – as of 2020, it’s here. Today you can go out and buy yourself a 5G-ready handset, and enjoy blazing fast 5G speeds on your mobile network, assuming you’re stood in one of the spots in the country that are covered – a list that’s grown strongly, and will get bigger in 2020, but still has a lot of limitations.
While you might think 4G is fast enough for your sports streaming and your Twitter browsing, 5G is on a whole new level: expect average download speeds of 150-200Mbps (almost 10 times faster than 4G) and peak speeds of 1Gbps (more than six times the maximum rate of 4G). As the technology improves, 5G should get faster still.
And it’s not just about raw speed: latency (the lag between requesting something from the web and actually getting it) should improve by three or four times compared with 4G. Webpages and videos will appear in a snap, and apps that require content from the cloud (like VR or AR experiences) should load up almost instantly.
5G vastly improves on bandwidth too, which means your phone won’t suddenly be unable to get a connection when you’re at a sports stadium or a music gig – there will be plenty of connectivity to go around, no matter how many people get crowded into one place.
Add all that together and we’re talking about a genuine transformation in what you can do with your phone and how you can use it, and 5G is going fully mainstream this year. The number of cities covered is growing from a handful to the high double figures, and in 2020 it’s going to be rare for a flagship phone to launch without a 5G variant.
That’s due in part to the arrival of Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 865 and Snapdragon 875 chips, the silicon that’s expected to power the majority of top-end Android phones that get launched over the next 12 months. These have 5G modems as part of them, so phone makers now have no excuse for not offering at least one 5G phone during the course of 2020.
Once you’ve got the phone, and the network support, you’re ready to start enjoying 5G and all the benefits it brings: super-stable video calls, movies downloading in seconds rather than minutes, cloud content that appears as quickly as it would if it was stored on your phone, and plenty more besides.