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00:00Hey, how's it going? Dave2D here. So with 2019 rolling in, we're going to start to see a lot of advertisements for 5G-enabled smartphones and the benefits of the 5G network.
00:13And the reality is a properly rolled out 5G network is great. You get super fast internet speeds, you get lower latency, you get the ability to connect a lot more devices to that super fast internet.
00:24But to get to that stage, to get to that point where it's like the internet of things and everything is connected and talking to each other on the super fast network, you need to overcome a very large obstacle.
00:35And this large obstacle kind of casts some shade on this whole 5G smartphone thing. It's the difference in 5G wavelength.
00:445G signals act very differently from the traditional lower frequency 4G wavelengths. 5G signals have significantly shorter range and weaker penetration than a 4G signal.
00:55So things like walls, those obviously affect the way that 5G signals get through. But even something like a tree or an object or another human being between you and a 5G cell tower will affect the signal strength.
01:07Even the way that you hold your phone. Like if this was a 5G-enabled phone, if your hand is covering the antenna, it will attenuate the signal.
01:14Even stuff like weather effects, like rain, fog, snow, that can reduce the signal strength of 5G frequencies.
01:20So the solution to this, the workaround to this problem is kind of primitive. They're basically flooding cities that are going to be 5G-enabled with a ton of cell towers.
01:30So basically, this is not an exaggeration, where in an ideal situation, you want cell towers on basically every single street lamp.
01:37That's a ton of them. And in an office building, they're going to be everywhere.
01:40Because you need to have as clear of a line of sight between your phone and a signal tower to be able to use the 5G network properly.
01:49Now, the problem with that is, well, in terms of the network side, is it's very difficult and very slow to build up an infrastructure like that.
01:58Like all the permits, all the requirements to get stuff like that done, plus there's pushback from communities, right?
02:03Not everyone wants to be, like, surrounded by these cell towers. And there's the issues of, like, health risks.
02:08Like there's not a lot of long-term studies of EMF radiation from these new towers.
02:12So for early adopters, it'll be a long time before 5G-enabled phones can actually take advantage of real 5G connectivity.
02:20That's just the nature of this rollout. It's not an easy rollout.
02:24And that's just the network side of things. When it comes to phone hardware, there are a whole slew of other obstacles.
02:295G-enabled phones are going to be crazy expensive at launch.
02:33So Pete Lau, CEO of OnePlus, he was saying that their 5G-enabled phones are going to cost $200 to $300 more than their regular 4G phones.
02:42And this is like a $550, $600 phone. You throw on that 5G tax, this is now an $800 or $900 phone.
02:48This used to be a very reasonable kind of, not budget phone, but it's like a fairly priced phone.
02:53And now it's like in that crazy price point because of 5G capabilities.
02:58That new Snapdragon 855 needs a separate 5G modem and multiple antenna modules to make this thing work on the 5G network.
03:06And the reason why you need so many antenna modules is because of the problem I was mentioning before.
03:10If your hands cover any of the antennas, it doesn't work. You need to have multiple antennas that it intelligently switches between
03:15to allow this thing to connect seamlessly with the network.
03:19It's difficult to do, it's expensive to do, and it's going to cost the consumer a lot.
03:24There's also the issue of shorter battery life. So because you're transmitting and receiving 5G signals,
03:28it's going to invariably use more power than the regular 4G version.
03:32It's, I mean, you're going to get better speeds, of course, it's the new network.
03:36But again, the whole premise of 5G promised something like 10 times or 20 times the speed of 4G,
03:42which in theory sounds great and maybe in the future we'll get there.
03:45But in the beginning, when it first rolls out, we're going to get, like, that Snapdragon 855, the modem on there,
03:51I forget the name of it, but the modem, that 5G modem, can only hit, I think, two and a half times what the 4G network can hit.
03:58So, again, it's faster, but it's not going to be 10x or 20x. It's going to be quite a few years before we hit those speeds.
04:04And it's not like I'm taking a dump on 5G. I feel like the technology is awesome and we're inevitably going to get there.
04:09This video is more for the people that are interested in being early adopters for 5G smartphones.
04:14The technology sounds awesome and they're going to advertise those phones quite well.
04:18You're going to be tempted. My point is, in this current world of what we live in,
04:24like, 5G enabled networks are going to be rolled out very slowly.
04:29So, if you're going to spend your money, like, unless you're just jonesing for that 5G experience,
04:35it's going to be a huge premium for something that won't be an amazing experience because it can't be this early on.
04:41It's going to get there. This is the groundwork for it.
04:44But right now, I would just hold off on 5G enabled smartphones because that's just reality.
04:50It's not going to be that good at launch.
04:52Okay, hope you guys enjoyed this video. Thumbs if you liked it, subs if you loved it.
04:55See you guys next time.
05:05Transcribed by https://otter.ai