TechEnvoke
I don’t want any phone to have 5G in 2023. Why? Nobody actually uses it, it’s a terrible waste of space, and the ordinary person on the street has no idea what it even means. But for years, it has been a standard feature on new phones.
I’m not talking about 5G; rather, I’m talking about the annoying practice of appending “5G” to phone names, so don’t get all tense and start firing off angry emails. We comprehend; it has 5G. The majority of phones currently in use also have this feature, so it’s time to distinguish between those that don’t and those that do.
Enough already
Only a small number of handsets could connect to a 5G network at the start of 2019. Just a few examples include the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G, the LG V50 Thin, and the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G. You would have to go out of your way to buy these unique devices, which were famous for containing an inside 5G modem. It made sense to add 5G to their moniker to distinguish them from their 4G brethren. It was logical.
As 4G devices were still common, Given that they were significantly more expensive than their 4G counterparts and that a 5G signal wasn’t prevalent, it was necessary to make it apparent to prospective purchasers that they were looking at a 5G-ready phone. The huge Galaxy S10 5G cost $1,300 at launch, compared to the 4G Galaxy S10 Plus’s price of $1,000, therefore it was important to emphasis the main cause of the higher price wherever possible.
The future was being hailed for 5G because it was novel, distinctive, and unique. It was crucial to get it out there rapidly and into people’s minds since at the time, huge investments were being made in it by firms like Qualcomm, Samsung, and Huawei. From a business standpoint, branding everything with the label 5G made sense. But those times are gone, and now it’s just useless and disorganized.
We don’t need a reminder that 5G comes as standard
What I mean is this. We may refer to it as the Motorola Moto G, Galaxy S22 Ultra, and OnePlus 10 Pro (2022). But their complete names—as listed on their own websites—are the Moto G 5G, the Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G, and the OnePlus 10 Pro 5G. (2022). These are merely a few instances; I won’t attempt to include every single phone with “5G” in its name. I don’t have the room, the time, or the patience for something like that. Why does the point need to be emphasized when you can very much guarantee that any smartphone over a certain price will have 5G today?
Although it’s still possible, the inconsistent product ranges plus the fact that some (but not all) MediaTek-powered phones also have 5G appended to their names lead me to believe otherwise. I initially wondered if adding 5G to the name was a requirement of a licensing arrangement with Qualcomm.
For instance, the Realme GT 2 Pro has a 5G modem and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset despite not having 5G in its moniker. However the Realme 9 5G is advertised as having a Snapdragon 695 processor. Although it had a Samsung Exynos 2100 processor, the Galaxy S21 marketed in the U.K. was still referred to as the Galaxy S21 5G, exactly like the variant with a Snapdragon processor that was available in North America. The full name of the MediaTek-powered OnePlus Nord 2T is the Nord 2T 5G as well. If it turned out to be a license issue, it wouldn’t alter my opinion because it wouldn’t make the practice any less archaic and pointless.
Neither is it a trend that is about to halt as we move past 2022. One of the first devices we’re aware of that will launch in early 2023 is the OnePlus 11, which is actually known as the OnePlus 11 5G. I’d be far more startled if the OnePlus 11 didn’t feature 5G, but I’m not at all surprised that it will. Today, practically all mid-range and flagship phones support 5G, thus highlighting those that don’t would be significantly more beneficial and significant for consumers.
It’s time to bring 4G back
I discovered there are six distinct Realme 9 phones available on the company’s website when researching phones for this article. Four of the six phones feature 5G modems, even though only two of them have 5G in the name. This is foolish, but I’m not concerned about the perplexing range because that is a topic for another story. I’m worried about the 5G-less Realme 9 and Realme 9i since they genuinely point the way forward in this situation.
For the purpose of durability at the very least, the majority of consumers will desire a smartphone with 5G within. About four years have passed since the launch of the Galaxy S10 5G, a device that actually required the special designation at the end of its name. In 2023, the tag won’t be required. Instead, let’s begin labelling devices that lack 5G, which is currently thought of as standard. It would make much more sense to refer to the two Realme phones that lack 5G as the Realme 9 4G and the Realme 9i 4G since they are the minority models in the product line.
Lingering already convoluted phone names to emphasize 5G is no longer a point of differentiation, and it neither helps nor informs people. Nobody ever says it out loud either. You won’t ever hear someone say, “I have the new Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G,” not least because there isn’t one available without 5G, rendering the 5G aspect completely irrelevant. If a licensing agreement is to blame for this naming chaos, it must be changed. If manufacturers have a practice of doing it, marketing divisions need to stop immediately.
Simply ask them to begin installing 4G on the phones that lack 5G to assist them in doing this. More than simply adding “5G” to the end of the next flagship phone’s name will do, it might assist guide at least one future purchase.