- [Michael] Ever since the whole 5G hype train
kicked into gear, my friends at Android Central
have said the same thing,
"You should not buy a 5G phone in 2019."
The networks aren't mature enough,
the phone selection isn't broad enough,
it's just too early.
Well I found a way to prove those folks wrong.
Turns out there are actually a few people
who should buy a 5G phone.
The thing is, they all pretty much live
in this building right here.
(upbeat music)
Chicago, home of striking architecture,
delicious cheesy popcorn,
disproportionate number of my old college friends
and one of only a handful of 5G networks in the USA.
Samsung brought me out here to experience that network
along with some familiar faces
on this phone right here.
The 5G version of the Samsung Galaxy S10
is bigger and heavier, fitter,
happier, more productive, you name it.
It packs a larger screen
and more cameras than any other Samsung.
It's also got the biggest battery.
And for the first time in years, a faster charger.
But while you'll see plenty of footage
from this phone's cameras in this video,
I'm really here to talk about the network.
What using 5G for the first time felt like.
In short, it's fast and it's frustrating.
Fast part first.
Using a Galaxy S10 Plus on Verizon's 4G network
alongside the 5G version here,
well of course, 5G is a lot faster.
In my testing, the download difference
was about three to five times faster on 5G.
And since I know watching speed tests
is about as fun as watching paint dry,
here's a real world example.
You're about to get on a flight
or underground on the subway
and you forgot to download a game to pass the time
until the last minute.
Well even with something as big as Asphalt 9
that weighs in at 1.7 gigabytes,
it actually takes longer for the phone
to install the game than it did to download it.
Better example for someone like me
who's always got headphones on.
Even if you crank up the quality to maximum on Spotify,
a 5G connection can pull down an 81-song playlist
in less than a minute.
It's one thing for the manufacturers
to promise you these kinds of speeds,
it's another to hold a phone in your hand
and watch how fast it is.
(calm music)
Unfortunately the same technology that makes it faster
also makes for the frustrating part.
See, 5G stands for fifth generation,
it's not something simple
like a software update to your phone.
Actual 5G connections, ones fast enough
to give you these speeds,
require a whole new kind of network.
It's easy to tell the difference.
Where a regular 3G or 4G cell site
is usually mounted on a big tower like this,
a 5G node is small enough to fit
on top of a light pole, like this.
But the flip side
is that there are gonna have to be nodes
like this everywhere in 5G cities.
And that's because they're operating
at much higher frequencies.
Let's illustrate what I mean using a piece
of the Chicago skyline and say the Willis Tower
is the radio frequency spectrum.
The cell phone you use right now
probably operates mainly around the 800 megahertz band,
which would be almost at the bottom,
around the second floor.
Your WiFi router at home?
That broadcasts between 2.4 and five gigahertz,
which would be up here, between the fourth and sixth floor.
Verizon's 5G uses the millimeter wave spectrum,
between 28 and 39 gigahertz,
that's way up here at floor 103,
which I visited on my trip and a quick look down
will reinforce just how very high up it is.
Now being up that high in the spectrum
is what allows 5G to offer such fast speeds.
But it also means those signals can't travel as far
and can't penetrate obstacles as well.
During my day in Chicago,
the difference between holding onto a 5G signal
and losing it was literally the difference
between walking five feet
or putting a phone on the wrong ledge.
Even ducking behind a tree
or being on the other side of a window
would sometimes cause the connection to fall back to 4G.
Now Sprint and T-Mobile are going
with a different approach to 5G
in a lower part of the spectrum
but look, it's possible to build a solid 5G network
where Verizon is doing it.
You just need a ton of infrastructure
that they've barely started building.
This explains why all of us media folks
who've been invited to test it
have kind of done the same things,
performed speed tests, downloaded big apps.
It's not because we were required to.
It's because the network isn't ready for much else.
The number one thing I wanted to try was a video live stream
or see how long it would take
to upload a huge video to YouTube.
But when I visited, the network
wasn't even using 5G for uploads yet.
The phone would fall back to 4G for those.
I asked Verizon why it was selling 5G phones
when the network was barely online.
The company didn't give me a straight answer
but it's not hard to figure out.
Jut Google, "Who was first to 5G?"
And you'll see a few companies
jockeying for that recognition.
Yeah, it's a prestige thing
and it's also a money thing.
As Reuters points out, the entire industry
is expected to generate over $12 trillion by 2035.
That's 12 trillion per year.
But we're in 2019.
So if you buy a Galaxy S10 5G today,
what are you getting for your almost $1300?
Well, much of the same stuff you get
on the far cheaper Galaxy S10,
which, if you've watched my review,
you'll know is hardly a bad thing.
Don't forget those bonuses
like the bigger battery and display,
the better charging brick and the extra cameras.
If you live in Chicago or Minneapolis right now,
you'll also be able to try out 5G for no additional charge,
since the company is waiving its $10 a month fee for now.
Verizon's spin on this is that buying one of these,
or an LG V50, is future-proofing yourself,
since it plans to launch 5G
in another 28 cities before the year is out.
And if you live in one of those,
well your phone will already be ready.
Look, Verizon's network has improved substantially
even in the weeks since that first wave
of underwhelming coverage.
And even if you've watched an hour
of American TV in your life, or seen one billboard,
you know how zealously the company
guards the reputation of its network.
I have to believe it's going to deliver
a quality 5G experience once that network is fully deployed.
Until then though, I have to say
that my friends at Android Central are right.
Unless you happen to live at a corner
like West Grand and North Franklin in Chicago,
there's still little reason to buy a 5G phone just yet.
If you do buy one and you wanna protect
that mirror finish, folks, get a dbrand.
They're my sponsor and they make the best
vinyl skins in the business.
From my usual favorites, concrete and swarm,
to the flashier carbon fibers and dragons
that might be a better fit for such a cutting edge device.
Hit the link in the description for those.
And if you've used a 5G phone on any network
I wanna hear your experience.
Sound off down in the comments.
Disclosure, Samsung flew some members of the media
to Chicago for this test, including MrMobile,
and took us to the top of the Willis Tower
and for a ride on the river to test the phone.
Neither Samsung nor Verizon received editorial input
or an early look at this video, though,
they're seeing it at the same time you are.
Please subscribe if that's the kind of tech coverage
you value on your YouTube,
and check out Pocketnow and Tim Schofield's videos
of this same experience at their channels, linked below.
Until next time, thanks for watching
and stay mobile, my friends.