What does 5G mean for you?

First off, you need to have a 5G phone in order to get 5G. Most phones introduced in the past year have 5G, but if you haven’t gotten a phone since late 2019, you might not have 5G. Even then, you still might not have 5G. Some popular phones that have 5G are all Samsung S20 Ultra’s, and everything in the iPhone 12 lineup. To find out if your phone has 5G, I would recommend googling it, seeing the product page, and seeing if it mentions 5G. Generally, 5G is a big selling point that phone manufacturers advertise.

So, your phone supports 5G?  Great! Now, you need to find out if your carrier has 5G. It’s really simple to tell, because there are currently three in the US. T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T. (Please note, this article is made in October of 2020, and it’s likely that more carriers will support it after this is published.) If your carrier has 5G, then you are almost there!

You may not have 5G coverage in your area, so I recommend checking your carrier’s webpage and they have a map of LTE coverage, and 5G coverage. You may notice that where you live doesn’t have 5G, or that it has spotty coverage. If you see some 5G in your area, then you can receive 5G!

If you have no 5G coverage, but you have a 5G phone or carrier, then you most likely will be using LTE until 5G becomes available. If you have spotty or full 5G coverage, then enjoy fast speeds! You probably will get 5G sometimes, and not all the time. In that case, LTE will act like a safety net, always reliable and 5G is just an enjoyment sometimes. Reading this, you may be thinking that you probably shouldn’t bother with a 5G phone. You actually should. Just because you may not get 5G now doesn’t mean you won’t get 5G, and for now it’s all about future proofing, making it so that you can get the most out of your phone for the longest time.

Hopefully you learned a thing or two about 5G!