The 5G is going to be an incredibly difficult sale in 2019

Although the avalanche of announcements may have given the impression that it was otherwise, today officially marks the first day of the Mobile World Congress 2019, and apart from all the ambitious, strange and sophisticated new handsets presented at the show, undoubtedly the big topic for the show is 5G.

To date, almost all major operators have already begun deploying 5G networks and, with the announcement of the Galaxy S10 5G, a new Qualcomm 5G modem and many other 5G compatible phones to follow at MWC, one gets would believe like us. to reach a critical mass for 5G momentum.

The 5G is supposed to mark the 5th generation of mobile communication and with it, technology companies have made great promises about what cell networks could offer in the not too distant future. We are talking about mobile data speeds potentially greater than 1 Gbps, latencies below 5 or 10 milliseconds, and networks robust enough to support the growing number of IoT devices.

But before anyone embarks on a 5G technology spending adventure this year, three big things make me feel bearish from here to 2020.

5G is barely available

The first problem is the limited availability of 5G networks. It's true that depending on where you live, you could have the chance to have 5G coverage in your area. If you look at the list of cities with 5G coverage, outside of places like New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and a handful of metropolitan areas in Texas, you will find very little 5G signal. (Just look at these maps to get a general idea of ​​the current state of 5G coverage.) In fact, at present, Sprint has no 5G coverage and will start from scratch when it launches 5G in nine markets by May.

AT & T is a little better with 12 cities with 5G coverage. However, if you read carefully, it is important to note that even at AT & T, the 5G + (term that makes no sense for the true 5G) is "available only in certain areas" of these places. Translation: You must not expect a reliable 5G coverage, even if you are in these places. You will need to determine if your house is covered as well as other places you visit frequently to ensure you have a complete 5G experience.

Verizon began to focus on 5G late last year by introducing what were essentially 5G hot spots for use in homes, while developing its mobile infrastructure in anticipation of the future. 5G compatible phones in 2019. The 5G is available in "limited areas" or in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Houston, Indianapolis.

Meanwhile, because of T-Mobile's disdain for Verizon and AT & T's 5G pucks, the carrier chose not to create 5G hotspots and deploy 5G on its 600 MHz spectrum in a few cities. Unlike AT & T's and Verizon's preferred 5G millimeter-wave installations, T-Mobile's 5G low band offers better range and signal penetration in buildings. However, these advantages come with the disadvantage that low frequencies can not achieve the data / Gbps data rates or the very fast latency that many people think regarding the potential benefits of 5G. And even though the company is committed to offering 5G to 30 cities by the end of the year, even T-Mobile itself admits that it will not have national 5G until 2020.

5G phones will be way too expensive

The second concern for 5G is all the money you will need to improve your technology. Unless you are the unicorn who bought a Moto Z3 last year in hopes of being the first child of the block with a 5G mod, anyone who wants to try the 5G mobile will have to buy a new phone. This means at a minimum that you plan to spend at least $ 500 for a new phone, no matter what the cost of the Moto 5G mod.

If you are thinking of buying a more "traditional" 5G compatible phone that does not need separate attachments, think about this: In December, OnePlus founder Carl Pei said he was waiting for the company's 5G phone orders $ 200. – $ 300 premium compared to a normal 4G LTE phone. It's a lot of extra dough to spend on the phone for somewhat nebulous benefits.

At the same time, although Samsung has quoted prices for the new Galaxy S10E at 750 USD, 900 S10 USD, 1,000 USD S10 + and the painful expensive Galaxy Fold at 2,000 USD, Samsung has not provided of price for the Galaxy S10 5G. But if we do rough calculations and use the S10 + $ 1,000 price as a starting point, then take into account the 6.7-inch giant screen of the S10 5G, its two depth-of-flight cameras, as well as its very important modem and 5G antennas. we are considering a phone that could easily cost $ 1,500 or more.

This is a similar situation for the LG V50 5G because even though it was announced, neither LG nor Sprint (the first 5G operator of the V50) had announced a price for the phone. In addition, it seems that phone manufacturers know that these phones will be difficult to move only because of the inclusion of 5G. LG and Samsung have added elements to their 5G phones, such as depth detecting cameras or a dual-screen accessory to increase their value. .

In short, if you plan on getting a 5G phone in 2019, you'll need more than $ 1,000 to spend without even asking if 5G phone plans will likely cost more than normal, which carriers do not have. have not spoken yet.

The coolest applications of 5G do not exist yet

Finally, for most people, speed is not worth it. At least not yet. This is because one of the promises of the 5G is to be able to have all kinds of devices such as drones, cars with cellular connections, TVs, etc., all connected permanently to communicate on a extremely fast wireless network. The problem is that all these 5G devices and 5G applications do not exist yet.

At the present time, if you were to connect a 5G phone to a 5G network at top speeds, what would it really give you? You can probably download a ton of movies and music very quickly, but if you're thinking about streaming, it's not like you have an abundance of 4K content to watch.

At Samsung's booth at the MWC, the company demonstrated a 5G S10 running on a real 5G network displaying a stream of an MLB game to control the video stream of different cameras. It's a smart application of massive 5G bandwidth offerings, which allows you to switch from the camera behind the base plate to a sharp camera at the first goal. But the application was a unique creation, not something that a baseball fan can get by simply buying a 5G phone.

And with the possibility of less than 10ms latency on the 5G, you may be able to play multiplayer games such as PUBG, Smash Bros, or Apex Legends (via mobile connection sharing) with the same type of & nbsp; Experience without lag that you use the wi-fi at home. . But that's about all. The so-called 5G revolution has power only when every device can exploit this type of speed, not just a single device.

By 2019, the major groups that could effectively use 5G mobile are businesses that can leverage all that bandwidth to send large files securely between different offsite locations.

5G is still the future

Now, all this does not mean that I am in 5G because technology has a lot of potential for the future. Testing new technologies is fun, and being one of the first users gives you a direct experience of how new platform ecosystems are developing over time. But for 2019, it's important to understand what 5G Mobile really is: a glorified beta test. In the best case, it's like ordering in advance or financing a Kickstarter, two approaches that are fueled more by hopes and dreams than anything based on reality.

So, if you are someone with money available and you are curious about 5G – or if you are the kind of person who likes to publish "All First" in videos YouTube, go ahead, explore 5G. But for all the others, you will save a lot of money in the meantime, and with the adoption rates of 5G for phones that should reach only 0.4% in 2019, you will not miss much either.