Talk about 5G in plain language: ten knowledge points to ensure you understand

When it comes to 5G, everyone can basically talk about it for a few sentences, but I'm sure it won't be more than 3 sentences. In addition to the fast speed of 5G, it seems that there is really not much that everyone can talk about. In addition to the fast Internet speed of 5G, there are actually many issues that everyone is concerned about. This article will answer everyone one by one in an advanced way. Let's not talk about obscure technology, but start from the issues that everyone is concerned about and talk about them in plain language.

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First of all, what is 5G: Simply put, 5G is the fifth generation of communication technology. Its main feature is the millimeter-level wavelength. 5G has three major characteristics: large bandwidth, low latency, and the interconnection of all things.

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1. How much faster is 5G than 4G?

5G's transmission rate will be able to reach 1Gb/s, which is more than ten times faster than the current 4G speed. This means that using 5G technology to download a 1GB HD movie can be completed in just 10 seconds, and a 70GB extended Blu-ray of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy can be downloaded in about 1 minute.

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5G's ultra-large bandwidth transmission capability means there will be no lag even when watching 4K high-definition videos, 360-degree panoramic videos, and VR virtual reality experiences.

2. Now that 5G is available, can 4G still be used?

By 2019, the mobile phone market will still be dominated by 4G phones. After 2020, 4G and 5G phones will coexist. The construction and application of 5G networks cannot be separated from the assistance of 4G, and they will coexist harmoniously for a long time. In other words, you don’t have to rush to change your phone when 5G is first launched.

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3. When can I buy a 5G phone?

In order, you need a 5G baseband chip first, then a 5G main processor chip, and finally a 5G mobile phone.

According to the estimated progress, there will be a "trial version" of the phone around mid-2019, and a "commercial version" will be available in the second half of the year, which means that everyone can buy a real 5G phone. It is expected that after full commercial use in 2020, 5G phone brands and models will gradually become more diverse.

4. Which mobile phone brand will release 5G mobile phones first?

Vivo, OPPO, Huawei, Honor, Xiaomi and other "head brands" will be the first to launch 5G mobile terminals. As for which one will be launched first, it depends on the support and cooperation of chip manufacturers for which mobile phone brand. It also tests the product layout planning, maturity and mass production progress. Being launched first does not mean that the R&D strength is strong.

In addition, only a few chip manufacturers such as Qualcomm, Huawei, MTK MediaTek, Spreadtrum, and Intel have the ability to develop 5G chips, and the right to speak on the timing of listing is concentrated in the hands of these chip manufacturers.

• iPhone (Intel baseband): No 5G support next year, replacement will have to wait until 2020
• Huawei (Huawei Baseband): The first 5G mobile phone is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2019
• Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, Moto (Qualcomm baseband): flagship products will be available in the first half of 2019

5. How much does a 5G phone cost?

Since 5G mobile phones support more modes, standards, and frequencies than 4G mobile phones, new technologies such as "millimeter wave" and "MIMO multi-antenna", chips, structural parts, RF components, etc. will lead to an increase in hardware costs.

The first 5G phones to be launched will be mid-to-high-end models, with prices expected to be above 5,000 yuan. Looking back at the price of 4G phones, they have been falling almost all the way, and currently 100-yuan phones have fully supported 4G. In the 1-2 years after 5G is commercially available, the number of models will increase rapidly, and the price of 5G phones will also enter the 1,000-yuan range.

6. Will 5G packages be more expensive than 4G?

Looking back at the transition from 3G to 4G, package charges did not change much. It is currently understood that under the same usage conditions, 5G charges will be lower than 4G, perhaps just a few cents per GB. Since traffic is no longer an issue, a completely different billing method may be adopted in the future, perhaps based on network speed or usage mode (games, movies, VR).

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7. Does 5G have a lot of radiation?

First of all, it is certain that in daily life scenarios, 5G mobile phones will not increase the radiation to the body. Mobile phone manufacturers must undergo various rigorous reviews and tests before launching new mobile phones, and they must meet relevant national standards before they can be put on the market.

The high frequency band of 5G requires denser base stations, so the radiation is greater. This understanding is a misunderstanding. On the contrary, the radiation of base stations has become smaller and smaller from 2G to 3G and then to 4G. In the 2G era, there was a base station every tens of kilometers, while in the 4G era, there was a base station every hundreds of meters. In the 5G era, there are more base stations. Due to power control, the denser the base stations, the smaller the radiation.

8. When switching from 4G to 5G, do I need to change my SIM card?

When upgrading from 2G to 3G or from 3G to 4G, you need to change the SIM card because the early SIM cards were not secure enough. 5G phones have faster network speeds than 4G phones, and there are no other obvious differences in form. That is to say, when switching from 4G to 5G, you do not need to change the SIM card, and you can still use the USIM card to access the Internet.

9. Will eSIM replace physical cards?

eSIM is a solution that uses virtual SIM to subvert the traditional SIM. It requires a related chip to be embedded in the mobile phone, without the traditional SIM physical card, so that the wireless network services provided by the operator can be directly accessed. The biggest advantage of eSIM is that the operator can be changed at will. At present, the three major domestic operators have begun to support eSIM, and the day of 5G without card insertion should not be far away.

10. Can existing 4G mobile phones use 5G networks?

Current 4G mobile phones cannot use the future 5G network. The 5G network is a brand-new technical standard. Some current 4G mobile phone processor basebands are developed according to the past 4G standards, and there are fundamental differences in hardware.

Looking forward to the cheers of 5G

Well, the above ten questions and ten answers basically cover the 5G-related issues that everyone has.

Although it will take some time before 5G is officially commercialized, it is undoubtedly a good thing for the mobile phone market, which is currently experiencing a slowdown in growth.

2019 will be the first year of 5G network. The mobile phone market is bound to usher in a climax of phone replacement, and we are also looking forward to the latest developments of 5G at any time.