Can you afford a 5G terminal that costs over 10,000 yuan?

Everyone wants to be the first to experience the 5G network. China Unicom recently announced the 5G Pioneer Plan and launched 6 5G mobile phones and a 5G CPE product. The price of 5G mobile phones is more than 10,000 yuan, and the price of CPE is 9,800 yuan. Can you afford the price of 5G terminals of about 10,000 yuan?

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China Unicom announces 5G Pioneer Plan

On May 9, China Unicom announced the "5G Pioneer Plan" with 6 5G mobile phones and a 5G CPE. The 6 mobile phones include Huawei, ZTE, OPPO, VIVO, Xiaomi, and Nubia brand products, and the CPE device is Huawei 5G CPE Pro. The price of these 6 terminals is more than 10,000 yuan, and the most expensive terminal is Huawei Mate 20 X 5G version, which is priced at 12,800 yuan. Huawei 5G CPE Pro is relatively cheap, but the price is as high as 9,800 yuan. It is worth mentioning that the price includes 5G network package services with unlimited traffic and unlimited network speed.

5G Pioneer Program

Why are 5G terminals so expensive?

From the price point of view, the high price of these 5G terminals is more than 10,000 yuan, which is difficult for ordinary users to accept. The main reason is that the research and development cost of 5G chips is high, and the price will be very expensive when they first enter the market. From the announced models, except for Huawei's mobile phones and CPE devices that use self-developed 5G chips, the other five models all use Qualcomm 5G chips.

5G terminals need to support new technologies such as millimeter waves and be compatible with 4G networks. The initial R&D costs of chips, radio frequency, etc. remain high. However, when the industry matures, 5G devices will begin to be widely popularized. According to the rhythm of high, medium and low-end, the number of 5G terminals will increase, and the price will fall. 5G terminals in 2019 are in the early stage of trial, so the price will be very expensive.

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5G mobile phone family portrait

Limited experience range

After spending more than 10,000 yuan, can you enjoy the 5G network? Not at all! Taking China Unicom's "5G Pioneer Plan" as an example, after getting these 5G trial terminals, users can only use the 5G network in areas where the 5G network has been opened in Beijing, Xiong'an New Area, Shanghai, Nanjing and other places. Outside the 5G network coverage area, it will still be downgraded to 4G network, which is really unbearable.

Taking Beijing as an example, at present, Beijing Unicom has only opened 5G network in the Unicom experience stores in Financial Street and Xidan and the OPPO store in Wukesong to provide 5G network experience services. If you leave these places, the user's 5G terminal will also have no 5G signal.

Huawei 5G CPE Pro in addition to mobile phones

The US and South Korea had a bad experience with 5G

China Unicom's "5G Pioneer Plan" reminds us of the first 5G commercial services launched by AT&T in the United States and the three major operators in South Korea. Enthusiastic users flocked to areas covered by 5G signals, but the actual experience was very bad. Although the network speed is very fast, one more step may exceed the signal range, and the network will be downgraded to 4G. Users walk carefully when using it, for fear of exceeding the coverage of 5G signals.

The double price of 5G terminals is hard to accept

From the evolution of communication terminals, users only need to spend less than 1,000 yuan to switch from a 2G phone to a 3G phone, and less than 2,000 yuan to upgrade from a 3G phone to a 4G phone. Based on the current price of 5,000 yuan for a flagship 4G phone, users can afford to spend around 7,000 yuan to switch to a 5G phone, but if it doubles to 10,000 yuan, it is really difficult for ordinary users to accept.

Conclusion

The 5G starting gun has indeed been fired, but there is no need to rush to be the first 5G commercial operator. 5G networks are bound to replace 4G networks, but the process is a gradual one. It may take 3-5 years to fully popularize 5G networks. The 10,000 yuan "5G Pioneer Plan" is undoubtedly an experience service for enthusiasts or geek users. If ordinary users want to be able to afford it, the price needs to be reduced by 30-50%.