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Ask HN: Why would I want 5G on my smartphone?

5 points by aminozuur ↗ HN
I consistently get 70Mbps on speedtests using 4G from my discount telecom provider ($12/mo in the Netherlands).

How would normal people benefit from 5G speeds on smartphones? I understand that sometimes you have to enable the technology before you can predict what interesting usecases come from it. I am genuinely curious and welcome your thoughts.

16 comments

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CameronNemo
Corollary: why would I want to avoid 5G on a smartphone (e.g. given identical phones at the same price, with 4G vs 5G modems).
hojjat12000
Battery use maybe? Worse connection through walls? More anthenas should be installed to create better coverage? I know these are not great argument against it, especially because any 5G phone also supports 4G.I can't think of any reason not to want it.
nickthemagicman
If data costs went down you could get 4k videos.
dairylee
Are phone screens large enough to be able to distinguish between 720p/1080p/4k etc.?
achairapart
Aren't the op's 70Mbps from 4G already plenty for 4k?
nickthemagicman
I was being a little facetious.

My Well maybe 8k then or less buffering?

I just want data costs to come down.

sigmaprimus
This sounds very similar to "Why would anyone need more than 640K?"

It's not just about speed, a 5G network supports a greater density of devices compared to a 4G one. 4G can support about 4,000 devices per square kilometer, whereas 5G will support around one million.

5G will be able to connect the plethora of next gen IOT devices coming to a store near You!

Just imagine smart shopping carts that will finally enable the homeless to have connected homes too! How about smart protestor signs that will automatically change to display what ever SJW message the technocracy wants to get out in real time. There are so many wonderful things that "Harder, Better Faster" connectivity will bring us all...Queue Daft Punk background music!!

phillipseamore
Biggest noticeable difference is that latency is about half that of 4G.
Dicey84
5G offers me around 500Mbps on my mobile and my home broadband peaks around 50Mbps (subpar Australian NBN).

The 5G mobile gets used quite often as a hotspot when I need to download large files quickly.

achairapart
I don't know. Personally, on my smartphone I never felt to need more than those ~7/8Mbps that 3G already had to offer.
retrocomputing
Netherlands here. I don't use mobile internet, so no difference for me.

You can use it on IoT, maybe there's some gain in that area. The near future will have many more devices connected to the internet, consider "smart phones", "smart watches" and all the other toys.

aminozuur
Could you share some usecases whereby normal people could benefit from internet-enabled devices utilizing 5G, that wasn't possible on 4G?
elthor89
My first thought was “why not?”

I think on mobile 5g might be not as revolutionary as 3g was back then. It won’t hurt either, faster download speed , same price I am okay with that.

I know your question was 5g on smartphones but I think it has even more potential in other areas. Remote surgery or closer to home think about Drenthe, Groningen or cities like Amsterdam where optical fiber rollout has been slow (kpn). 5g is potentially fast enough to replace your vdsl or cable from ziggo and be used as a main internet line.

randyrand
At a busy park, festival, stadium, or emergency shelter you'll still be able to communicate.