Should you buy a new piece of tech right now because it has 5G? No. We are not getting 5G until around 2022 and it would take a couple more years after that for the whole thing to get through its growing pains. Heck, we don’t even have good 4G coverage right now and 5G is not going to fix that.

5G is not all about speed either. So, what is it all about? 5G is a term for a collection of technologies that together results in low latency and high capacity over the air communication. And profit opportunities for tech companies, of course. 

How fast your pet reacts to you flicking that tab on a can of wet food is latency. It is one of the improvements 5G has over 4G. Faster responses mean you can stream games to your smartphone without wifi, fewer awkward pauses during a video chat because of lag, and devices can communicate with each other over the internet almost instantaneously.

Don’t confuse latency with speed. The twang of the tab on that can of wet food might have awakened your pet (latency), but it will still take time for it to sprint from its napping spot to the kitchen (speed). Although 5G has faster reaction time, the amount of data that can travel, especially in its initial implementation, will be no better than the established 4G.

So, what about capacity? Have you ever been to a busy place, like a popular newly opened mall, a convention, a protest, or a concert? Remember those? Also, remember how your phone connection gets more sluggish the more people there are? That’s capacity, another thing that 5G has a leg up on 4G. For us, this means better service despite the number of devices. For companies, it means more opportunities to introduce more internet-connected products.

But, isn’t the internet of things already a thing? Yes, but almost all of them depends on WIFI. Now imagine that each of them has a 5G connection.

For tech makers, 5G is the latest new thing that they can sell. Slap it on a new device and it’s a feature that they can use to market. It is also an opportunity to create new ubiquitous always connected technologies, like smart bandages, stream VR, real-time online AR, and interconnected smart driving cars.

But the real hustle comes from the telcos. 4G service is already a hive of scum and villainy with data caps and complicated terms and conditions. It is not cheap either! With 5G it’s all about selling the new service and making a profit. If there is going to be a bottleneck in 5G, telcos are it.

Now let’s take a look at speed. To understand that we need to understand that there are three types of 5G: Low band, mid-band, and high band. On one end of the spectrum (low band) we get coverage at the expense of speed. On the opposite end (high band), we get higher speed but lower coverage. All three bands still deliver low latency and high capacity.

To put it in context, the coverage of low band 5G is as good as 4G, implementations are easy, but the speed is not much better. High band 5G is definitely faster, but it can’t get into your home or inside a mall without additional infrastructure.

Urban areas will most probably get high band 5G and additional infrastructure while rural areas may get low band 5G if they are lucky, or an important constituency for an upcoming election.

My cynicism aside, most of the issues with 5G can and will be fixed in time. There is no need to rush out and buy tech with 5G, but there is a lot of potentials there.

And don’t feel bad if you grabbed a 5G smartphone this year. Samsung has a few hard to resist ones on the market today like the extremely capable Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G and the Galaxy S20 FE 5G.

Keep in mind that 5G is also a fertile ground for innovations. Samsung is no stranger to making smart home appliances, wearables, portables, and other IoT devices. Imagine all of them having 5G technology. That is where the really exciting stuff is at.