that’s how essential you think 5G networks and 5G phones are

Almost all Dutch telecom providers now offer support for 5G. However, the impact of 5G is somewhat disappointing due to the small speed gain. How important is 5G for the Androidworld reader? We asked in the recent AW Poll and this time you can read the results.

5G in the Netherlands: actually 4G++

Vodafone was the first telecom provider to deploy its nationwide 5G network. In the months that followed, T-Mobile and KPN also switched on their 5G networks. Each provider got its own PR party; they had succeeded in enabling 5G and that had to be celebrated. That’s good news, right? Actually, it is more nuanced, because 5G is not something that you simply turn on or off.

In particular, the frequency bands – the radio waves that float through the air and carry your emails, videos and other files with you – play a major role in the impact that 5G can have. The network was developed for higher frequencies with radio waves that are closer together. In optimal conditions, this results in much higher speeds than lower frequencies. That is why many providers in the US use so-called mmWave bands (pronounced as millimeter wave). With such mmWave bands you achieve the highest achievable speeds on 5G.

In the Netherlands, such high frequencies, Sub-6GHz, are not part of the 5G network. At the moment we are often even below 1000MHz, on the 700MHz band. Sub-optimal for 5G technology, which is also reflected in the impact that 5G has in the Netherlands. Speeds are in many cases equal to 4G+ networks, or even slightly lower. This will also not be resolved in the short term: only at the end of 2021 or early 2022, 3.5 GHz bands will be auctioned, which should lead to much higher speeds and lower latency (delay in data throughput).

AW Poll, what do you think

For the time being, 5G will therefore remain a 4G++ network when it comes to the possible speeds. Fortunately, this will change in the long term and speeds will increase. Many phones are already equipped with 5G chips – that even applies to the Galaxy A22, a phone of less than 230 euros. Whether you are actually waiting for 5G is of course a completely different story. The AW Poll that was published on Tuesday shows that more than half of the readers (59.5%) consider 5G important, but not ‘essential’.

Another part of the readers, accounting for 19.5 percent of the votes, indicates that 5G is necessary for them. It future-proofs the phone they purchase. Not everyone is waiting for 5G, according to the AW Poll. About 14.7 percent of readers prefer not to use 5G. Many people do not see any benefits of 5G, since in many cases it is just as fast as 4G. In addition, some of the readers mention in the responses that they prefer to wait until 5G is fully developed.