Buying a 5G smartphone? Check out these must-haves

Are you buying a 5G smartphone? There's a lot to choose from, right? Be it any price point, there's a plethora of 5G smartphones from various brands, all offering various kinds of toys to play with. But is it that simple? Is it the same as buying smartphones in the 4G era? It is not quite the same. In fact, despite the mega benefits of 5G, 5G phones of today are not likely ready for the 5G networks, and with our usage accustomed to 4G networks, will it be the same using 5G phones?

The simple answer is – no. 5G networks work differently and hence, our 5G phones need to focus on areas that will matter in day to day lives. Have a quick look at the essentials.

5G smartphones: What are the essentials?

Big battery

5G runs much faster than the 4G LTE and hence, require more resources as well as energy. That means 5G will be more of a battery drain on your phone. Hence, your 5G smartphone needs to have good battery life. Ensure a bigger battery capacity as well as more power efficient chip and smarter OS.

Fastest 5G modems

Supporting 5G on your phone doesn't mean you get those higher Gbps speeds. Your phone needs to have the fastest modems to access those higher speeds. Most expensive smartphones feature the fastest modems and hence, you will get the best experiences on the flagship smartphone models.

Fast chips

And to get the fastest modems, you need to have phones with the fastest chips. In Android universe, choose phones with Snapdragon 870, Snapdragon 888, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, MediaTek Dimensity 9000, Dimensity 9000+, and the likes. All iPhones starting iPhone 12 and newer models support all bands of 5G, and the fastest modems.

Software support

Lastly, your smartphone manufacturer needs to enable 5G support. For example, all the 5G equipped iPhones in India need to get an iOS update from Apple in order to allow 5G support. Android flagships, on the other hand, already have support for 5G networks. Hence, check with the manufacturer for 5G support before you hit the “buy” button.