It’s 2020, but I still want to buy a 4G phone

It's interesting to say that as an editor of a digital agency, even though I have written many articles about 5G technology and reviewed many 5G phones, I have not bought any 5G phone so far. Yes, even though 5G phones have come to the price of just over 2,000 yuan, I still use the iPhone XR, which is known as the "IQ test machine", and the OnePlus 7 Pro, the "strongest 4G Android phone".

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In addition, in yesterday's iPhone SE review, many readers also responded by saying "Isn't it better to buy a 5G phone for more than 2,000 yuan?" It seems that everyone is still unable to let go of "buying a 4G phone in 2020", so I decided to take this opportunity today to talk to you about why I don't choose a 5G phone. For readers who are using 5G phones, you can regard me as "a stubborn 4G antique", but you have to understand that what I said is just my personal opinion on 5G, and it does not represent the views of others.

I think 5G is not the right time yet

Let me start with the main reason, which is that there is nothing that can only be done with 5G. For example, when I reviewed 5G mobile phones before and wanted to show the 5G network speed, it was nothing more than speed testing and downloading movies. Many people think it is very monotonous, but there is no way, 5G is really so monotonous. And we don’t have time to test the speed in our daily lives, so the only way to use it is to download movies.

But the question is, why should I spend tens of seconds downloading a movie to my phone?

I remember that it was when I was in college that I switched to the ice cream package that China Unicom had just launched. Since then, I have never actively downloaded any audio and video content on my mobile phone. Whether it is TV series, movies or music, I watch them all online. And it turns out that even if you watch Netflix's high-definition videos online, the 4G network speed is not a problem at all. You should know that the bit rate of Netflix's high-definition videos has exceeded the "HDR" picture quality of many domestic video websites. However, even if you drag the progress bar on your mobile phone, the 4G network speed is enough to support smooth video playback.

Although we have begun to lay out 5G networks, the content that requires 5G has not yet appeared. So at this stage, even if the 5G charges are reduced, the 5G network is not attractive to me.

5G takes the path of VR again

No matter how fast the 5G network is, as long as there is no 5G-specific content, then this 5G is just a faster 4G network for me. I know that some people will mention "5G Internet of Things" and "5G telemedicine" as examples, but if you do a little search, it is not difficult to find that these examples of Internet of Things, telemedicine, and distance education were mentioned as early as the 4G era, or even the 3G era. And considering energy consumption, many IoT devices still use 3G or even 2G networks.

In my opinion, 5G today is like VR devices two years ago: they all have good hardware, but the hardware alone is not enough for users to pay for them. At that time, VR applications were almost all "VR" versions of mobile games. As for those "360-degree surround image viewing" software, they were essentially no different from 5G speed test software. It was not until more VR-exclusive game masterpieces like Beat Saber emerged that VR's acceptance gradually increased.

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Let's get back to 5G. I've used a lot of 5G phones for a long time, and I can count them on one finger. But no matter which phone I use, the performance is almost the same as that of 4G phones - the heat generation and battery life are even worse than 4G phones.

I have no intention of disparaging any 5G mobile phone brand here, and I am very grateful for their willingness to promote the construction and development of 5G in my country. But at least for me personally, the manifestation of 5G is really not obvious. Due to different concepts of operators, our 3G and 4G construction lag behind many developed countries. Therefore, when we use 3G and 4G mobile phones, we can immediately feel the gap between the two. For example, when I was in junior high school, my mobile phone could only use 2G network, and I could only choose "text live broadcast" when watching football in class; after high school, my mobile phone supported 3G, and I could barely watch the picture live broadcast; I started using 4G mobile phones in college and also took a fancy to video live broadcast.

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However, my country's 5G construction progress is far ahead of other countries. Therefore, on the 5G network, we can no longer "plant trees for future generations to enjoy the shade" as before. We must develop 5G usage scenarios ourselves. But as far as the current situation is concerned, the usage scenarios of 5G seem to be no different from those in the 4G era. Because of this, in my opinion, buying a 4G mobile phone in 2020 is not a big problem. The one that suits you is the best. As long as you think it is easy to use, that's fine.

Experience is declining instead of improving

Moreover, as an editor of a digital agency, we change our phones much faster than ordinary users. Even the newest and hottest iPhone 11 Pro last year will be replaced by a newer phone after a year. I believe that there are more or less such "high-frequency phone change" users around everyone. For these users, they don't need to consider whether "this phone" will be easy to use in the future. Wait until 5G really has a killer usage scenario, and then buy a new one. Anyway, you have to change to a new one by then, so why follow the trend and use 5G now? Besides, the energy consumption and heat generation of 5G are not satisfactory. Isn't the more mature 4G a better choice?

So to sum up my point of view, in my opinion, running points and speed tests are not part of daily use. Therefore, 5G cannot bring a perceptible improvement to me and many users who insist on 4G. So at this stage, 5G mobile phones are not as attractive to me as iOS's strict permission management. Therefore, even if I am still using the iPhone XR and OnePlus 7 Pro from a year ago, I still have no motivation to buy a 5G mobile phone.

Of course, 5G is not without its benefits. At present, 5G network resources are quite abundant, so it is not easy to have data congestion caused by busy base stations.

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Being the first to experience 5G networks also offers certain discounts on rates, and even many high-end flagship phones only offer 5G versions. There is no right or wrong in choosing 5G or not, and the only difference between 5G and 4G is which one is more suitable for you. So before buying a 5G phone, I hope you ask yourself a question: "What can 5G bring me?"

As for what "killer" applications will appear in the future 5G network, and what new forms digital content can be presented to us after text, pictures and videos, let us wait and see.