5G services are officially available in India. Jio and Airtel recently announced the list of cities that will be first in line to get 5G services. They include New Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata. You can read about Complete list of cities getting 5G Here. The launch of 5G in India was met with much hype and excitement. And rightly so. We have been waiting for 5G services in the country for a long time. However, those who are lucky enough to see a 5G network signal on their smartphone in India know that there are many issues with 5G in India right now.
We at 91mobiles were able to test 5G in some parts of Delhi. We’re also following the stories of many people on social media talking about their experience with the next-generation mobile network. Here are some issues with 5G in India and why you shouldn’t get too excited just yet.
5G availability is currently very limited
If you are a Jio or Airtel customer and are yet to see a 5G network signal on your device, there is a good reason for that. Although 5G has been officially launched, its availability is still limited. First, 5G services are currently only available in a few cities. It will take till March 2024 for pan-India availability of 5G. Second, only a few cities in the first batch have 5G connectivity. This means you need to be currently in a specific area of Delhi, for example, to enjoy 5G speeds.
5G speed is not what is promised
In theory, 5G should deliver speeds in excess of 1Gbps. But this is in theory right now. Real world 5G speeds are very slow and the main factor is how close you are to a 5G tower. In some parts of Delhi, you may see 5G speeds above 200Mbps, while others may see 5G speeds lower than what 4G is offering. It’s a teething problem for now. Currently there are limited 5G towers and 5G speeds vary depending on how close or far you are from the tower. Telcos are working to improve the infrastructure in the coming months, but it will take some time before you see consistent and impressive 5G speeds.
5G is a data guzzler
Jio and Airtel are yet to announce their 5G plans. For now, customers can enjoy 5G connectivity on existing 4G data plans. This is both good and bad. This is good because you don’t have to pay extra to use 5G right now. This is bad because 5G can exhaust a 1GB or 2GB data plan in a matter of seconds. You can get Jio Rs. 299 plan, for example, that offers 2GB of data per day, you’ll find your daily data cap on 5G exhausted within minutes if you run some speed tests or try to stream content. On Netflix or Hotstar.
5G is faster, but your phone’s battery will drain faster
If you are lucky enough to use 5G on your phone, you may notice that your device’s battery drains faster than usual. Because 5G drains phone battery faster than 4G. The main reason for battery drain is because your phone is constantly switching between 4G and 5G networks. A 5G phone uses large data packets that affect battery life. Samsung states on its website, “Because your phone is connected to multiple networks simultaneously, the battery may drain faster than normally expected and the phone may heat up more than when it’s only on 3G or LTE.”
To prevent your phone’s battery from draining quickly on 5G, many OEMs offer a battery optimization feature that can ensure the device’s battery performance is stable. Some devices, like the iPhone, have a Smart Data mode that uses 5G only when needed (such as when downloading movies or streaming in high resolution) and 4G LTE for everything else.
5G is available, but you should continue using 4G
As you can see, there are many issues with 5G in India right now. No doubt these issues will be resolved in the coming years. And waiting for proper 5G isn’t a bad thing. Even though 5G is available, you should still use 4G for most purposes, including streaming content and downloading files, as 4G speeds in India are very stable and reliable. 4G speed is enough to stream content without buffering or play games without lags.
Source by 91 Mobiles
Written By Sabhitech
