Last night there was a demonstration for the press in the USA of the first 5G equipment that will be put on sale in the country for customers, they will also arrive in other areas of the globe a little later. We are talking about phones from Samsung or Motorola, plus modems from Netgear, and other manufacturers, all compatible with 5G networks, but unfortunately all kept in a strange secrecy, closed all the time, and with bad results.
The first tests for 5G networks made in front of the press revealed speeds of only 130-140 Mbps for downloading on phones, that is exactly the current 4G speeds, so at a great distance from those of up to 5 Gbps, promised by the operators. We are talking about a presentation that took place in Maui, and at which Samsung had a 5G phone with the new screen cut out on one side, the company saying that it did not come there to show how fast the network speeds are.
The first 5G TESTS were an AWFUL FAILURE
Samsung, or Netgear, did not allow the filming of phones and hotspots with the screens on, and below you have a download test done on a motorola phone, and you can see how bad the speeds are. It seems that all these devices work with modems provided by Qualcomm, which will also launch the new Snapdragon 855/8150 chip, which will have a special 5G modem, which will arrive in many premium phones in 2019.
"I'll tell you straight up that the speeds aren't as eye-popping as I'd like them to be," AT&T assistant vice president of mobile broadband Glenn Couper tells me, before confirming the 130-140Mbps speeds. None of the other 5G-hopeful companies at Maui contests that the speeds are slow here on the island. Each one also independently offered a very similar comment, suggesting that they'd been prepared in advance for this very question.
The Motorola / Verizon 5G speed test here in Maui tells me hilariously little. #SnapdragonSummit pic.twitter.com/obqkkTy2Jm
- Sean Hollister (@ StarFire2258) December 5, 2018
In the USA, the first 5G networks will be launched in just one month, and until now, no phones or hotspots have been demonstrated there that can reach speeds of up to 5 Gbps, and it is very likely that this will only be a myth. In Europe, including in Romania, I have seen tests for 5G networks in which speeds of up to 1 Gbps were reached, but I have not seen any done using a phone that will actually be put on sale, and here will be the big problem of technology.
