6 ridiculous guarantees we had been bought about 5G

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In truth, just a few of the trade’s bigwigs would most likely fairly all of us neglect about a number of the completely outlandish claims and overenthusiastic visions they tried to promote us about 5G. However the web by no means forgets, so it’s time for us to play “the place are they now” with a number of the worst nonsense from the flip of the last decade.

Augmented actuality in every single place

<img class="e_Lh" decoding="async" loading="lazy" sizes="(min-width: 64rem) 51.25rem, 80vw" title="Xreal Air 2 Ultra AR glasses (3)" srcset="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Xreal-Air-2-Ultra-AR-glasses-3.jpg 1920w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Xreal-Air-2-Ultra-AR-glasses-3-1536w-864h.jpg 1536w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Xreal-Air-2-Ultra-AR-glasses-3-675w-380h.jpg 675w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Xreal-Air-2-Ultra-AR-glasses-3-64w-36h.jpg 64w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Xreal-Air-2-Ultra-AR-glasses-3-1000w-563h.jpg 1000w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Xreal-Air-2-Ultra-AR-glasses-3-300w-170h.jpg 300w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Xreal-Air-2-Ultra-AR-glasses-3-1280w-720h.jpg 1280w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Xreal-Air-2-Ultra-AR-glasses-3-840w-472h.jpg 840w" alt="Xreal Air 2 Ultra AR glasses (3)" src="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Xreal-Air-2-Ultra-AR-glasses-3.jpg"/> Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

Numerous 5G advertising and marketing went in a single ear and out the opposite with me, however I distinctly keep in mind UK service EE teaming up with Kevin Bacon to launch the 5G-equipped Apple iPhone 12 Professional in an advert showcasing not solely a drone supply however an augmented actuality Rita Ora “stay” efficiency atop the London skyline.

I’ve by no means taken supply by drone, however Amazon provides it in some locations, and emergency providers more and more use drones in rural areas. Nevertheless, this depends on GPS/GNSS and LiDAR, fairly than 5G. And whereas it’s true that we’ve seen concert events and reveals happen in digital worlds, these actually haven’t required 5G networks or AR goggles for entry.

Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon was additionally bullish on AR again then. In 2021, he famous, “upon getting the 5G community constructed,” he promised, “the telephone goes to evolve to permit the aspect of augmented actuality glasses. When you have a look at what’s taking place with (VR), we’re attending to scale. I believe it’s only the start of an inflection level.”

Whereas it may be harsh to name this prediction completely unsuitable, augmented actuality in our pockets stays a pipe dream. One of the best we nonetheless have immediately is the overpriced, closely tethered $3,500 Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional or sensible glasses just like the Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer which might be much more restricted in scope. In each circumstances, 5G hardly elements into their enchantment.

A extra handy evening’s keep

<img class="e_Lh" decoding="async" loading="lazy" sizes="(min-width: 64rem) 51.25rem, 80vw" title="Google hotel search" srcset="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Google-hotel-search-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Google-hotel-search-64w-36h.jpg 64w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Google-hotel-search-1000w-562h.jpg 1000w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Google-hotel-search-1920w-1080h.jpg 1920w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Google-hotel-search-1536w-864h.jpg 1536w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Google-hotel-search-675w-379h.jpg 675w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Google-hotel-search-300w-170h.jpg 300w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Google-hotel-search-1280w-720h.jpg 1280w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Google-hotel-search-840w-472h.jpg 840w" alt="Google hotel search" src="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Google-hotel-search-scaled.jpg"/> Aamir Siddiqui / Android Authority

Again when HUAWEI was a participant in Western markets, it was one of many greatest proponents of 5G. In partnership with China Telecom, the 2 pledged to construct the world’s first 5G sensible resort on the InterContinental Shijiazhuang.

Between facial recognition login, VR rowing machines within the gymnasium, and robots to information friends to their rooms and patrol the perimeter, this was billed as the way forward for resort comfort. Nevertheless, I’m undecided eradicating the non-public contact is precisely the expertise that five-star patrons are on the lookout for.

The sensible resort concept additionally boasted extra mundane prospects, corresponding to 5G-powered conferencing, resort room Wi-Fi (which might little question be insanely costly powered by 5G), and cloud gaming. Nothing we will’t already accomplish with a trusty Ethernet port, then?

Good cities

<img class="e_Lh" decoding="async" loading="lazy" sizes="(min-width: 64rem) 51.25rem, 80vw" title="5G TD FDD TDE LTE 4G Connectivity Carrier Network Tower Radio MBB Connected City IoT -15" srcset="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/5G-TD-FDD-TDE-LTE-4G-Connectivity-Carrier-Network-Tower-Radio-MBB-Connected-City-IoT-151.jpg 1920w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/5G-TD-FDD-TDE-LTE-4G-Connectivity-Carrier-Network-Tower-Radio-MBB-Connected-City-IoT-151-1918w-1080h.jpg 1918w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/5G-TD-FDD-TDE-LTE-4G-Connectivity-Carrier-Network-Tower-Radio-MBB-Connected-City-IoT-151-1536w-864h.jpg 1536w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/5G-TD-FDD-TDE-LTE-4G-Connectivity-Carrier-Network-Tower-Radio-MBB-Connected-City-IoT-151-675w-380h.jpg 675w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/5G-TD-FDD-TDE-LTE-4G-Connectivity-Carrier-Network-Tower-Radio-MBB-Connected-City-IoT-151-64w-36h.jpg 64w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/5G-TD-FDD-TDE-LTE-4G-Connectivity-Carrier-Network-Tower-Radio-MBB-Connected-City-IoT-151-1000w-563h.jpg 1000w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/5G-TD-FDD-TDE-LTE-4G-Connectivity-Carrier-Network-Tower-Radio-MBB-Connected-City-IoT-151-300w-170h.jpg 300w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/5G-TD-FDD-TDE-LTE-4G-Connectivity-Carrier-Network-Tower-Radio-MBB-Connected-City-IoT-151-1280w-720h.jpg 1280w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/5G-TD-FDD-TDE-LTE-4G-Connectivity-Carrier-Network-Tower-Radio-MBB-Connected-City-IoT-151-840w-472h.jpg 840w" src="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/5G-TD-FDD-TDE-LTE-4G-Connectivity-Carrier-Network-Tower-Radio-MBB-Connected-City-IoT-151.jpg"/> Whereas utilizing your XR-ready telephone for purchasing or staying in a robot-infested resort may be fairly private experiences, others wished to get in early to upsell their big-picture potential.

Vodafone UK took a “pragmatic” strategy within the early years, claiming that closely related sensible cities may leverage IoT throughout heating, cooling, and lighting techniques to watch vitality use and establish efficiencies to avoid wasting as much as £580 million of public cash. That’s a substantial lump of money the present administration would love to search out down the again of the couch.

The US’s Verizon printed related concepts in a white paper, masking all the pieces from vitality and site visitors administration to sensible buildings and even “sensible authorities.” In response to the corporate, autonomous vehicles, sensible communities, industrial IoT, distant healthcare — all of them will depend on 5G. However outdoors of some demos, we’re nonetheless ready.

Whereas some facets of sensible cities might finally change into a actuality with the adoption of non-standalone networks and 5G Superior, hyping these up many years earlier than they'll conceivably change into a actuality stays laughably disingenuous.

On-the-road automotive updates

<img class="e_Lh" decoding="async" loading="lazy" sizes="(min-width: 64rem) 51.25rem, 80vw" title="tcl csot automotive display" srcset="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/tcl-csot-automotive-display.jpg 1920w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/tcl-csot-automotive-display-1536w-864h.jpg 1536w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/tcl-csot-automotive-display-675w-380h.jpg 675w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/tcl-csot-automotive-display-64w-36h.jpg 64w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/tcl-csot-automotive-display-1000w-563h.jpg 1000w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/tcl-csot-automotive-display-300w-170h.jpg 300w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/tcl-csot-automotive-display-1280w-720h.jpg 1280w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/tcl-csot-automotive-display-840w-472h.jpg 840w" alt="tcl csot automotive display" src="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/tcl-csot-automotive-display.jpg"/> Damien Wilde / Android Authority

The guarantees of vastly related sensible cities, autonomous taxis, and roaming drone deliveries are undoubtedly probably the most memorable tropes trotted out to construct hype in 5G, and none must move.

Again in 2019, Intel’s Common Supervisor of 5G Technique, Rob Topol, was extremely smitten by simply how highly effective quick inside metropolis networks could be. “You can pull as much as a cease gentle and a mmWave antenna can present a burst obtain or replace to the automotive. It may give you 100GBs inside only a few seconds whilst you’re sitting on the intersection.”

It sounds nice, however clearly, it’s nonetheless a far-flung fantasy all these years later. However let’s be beneficiant and do the maths for 100GB whereas stopped at a lightweight for 30 seconds. That might require information speeds within the area of 27Gbit/s, an excellent 100x quicker than the 240Mbps or in order that US customers see on the quickest 5G networks. No customers see something near these speeds even when standing subsequent to an mmWave tower. It was a whimsical declare again then and appears downright ridiculous now.

mmWave all of the issues

<img class="e_Lh" decoding="async" loading="lazy" sizes="(min-width: 64rem) 51.25rem, 80vw" title="Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G speed test" srcset="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Samsung-Galaxy-S21-Ultra-5G-speed-test.jpg 1920w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Samsung-Galaxy-S21-Ultra-5G-speed-test-1536w-864h.jpg 1536w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Samsung-Galaxy-S21-Ultra-5G-speed-test-675w-380h.jpg 675w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Samsung-Galaxy-S21-Ultra-5G-speed-test-64w-36h.jpg 64w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Samsung-Galaxy-S21-Ultra-5G-speed-test-1000w-563h.jpg 1000w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Samsung-Galaxy-S21-Ultra-5G-speed-test-300w-170h.jpg 300w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Samsung-Galaxy-S21-Ultra-5G-speed-test-1280w-720h.jpg 1280w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Samsung-Galaxy-S21-Ultra-5G-speed-test-840w-472h.jpg 840w" alt="Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G speed test" src="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Samsung-Galaxy-S21-Ultra-5G-speed-test.jpg"/> David Imel / Android Authority

Clearly, 5G hinged far too many hopes and guarantees on the mass rollouts of much more ultra-fast spectrum, often known as mmWave. Whereas mmWave actually exists in elements of the US and different nations, it’s turned out to be broadly costly and restricted in its potential protection space.

Whereas the carriers had been clearly massive on it, mmWave was all of the speak at cell chipset distributors too. MediaTek’s Finnbar Moynihan famous that “mmWave is the foundational elementary expertise that’s going to form lots of issues that we will’t even think about but, due to the brand new spectrum, the massive extensive bandwidth it opens up, the latency,” Qualcomm was equally optimistic, highlighting that “5G NR mmWave is a brand new frontier for cell” after efficiently testing its first 5G modem on 28GHz spectrum.

However what number of customers are literally utilizing mmWave immediately? Globally, only a few. Even flagship smartphones hardly ever embrace mmWave parts outdoors the US, whereas mid-range fashions proceed to keep away from assist altogether.

Whereas mmWave has actually helped speed up information speeds in areas the place it’s out there, its lack of widespread availability is a big consider 5G’s failure to hit its information pace and latency guarantees. If something, it’s fairly amusing to see Verizon mix its short-range mmWave protection claims into wide-area 4GHz C-band deployment underneath the guise of “extremely wideband” to make its protection map look rather a lot higher. What began as a mmWave-only model morphed right into a catch-all for something quicker than fundamental 5G.

Construct it and they're going to come

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Maybe one of many extra mind-blogging speaking factors across the rollout of 5G was pleasure for the unknown. As a substitute of telling us what 5G would do, many execs shrugged and stated, “Let’s simply construct it and look ahead to the magic.” It was blind optimism at scale — costly, undefined, and overmarketed.

Talking all the way in which again in 2018, US carriers had been already hyping up 5G with none actual specifics. For instance, Hans Vestberg, Verizon, talking in 2018, claimed that 5G would usher within the “fourth industrial revolution,” whereas Marcelo Claure of Dash opined, “Going from 4G to 5G is like going from black-and-white to paint TV.” That sounds thrilling however is finally meaningless, and so it turned out to be.

Marc Allera, CEO of BT’s Shopper manufacturers additionally remarked: “After we launched 4G again in 2012 no one referred to as Netflix, Uber, and the explosion in social media platforms. What we do see is that after we construct quicker, higher, extra dependable networks, app builders can do extra issues, customers can do extra issues, and the creativeness of builders in critical functions, in addition to enjoyable, is limitless.” Likewise, MediaTek’s Kevin Keating supplied: “Till you truly begin utilizing [5G] and see what you are able to do with it, you'll be able to’t actually think about the way you’re gonna change markets and industries with expertise you don’t have in your arms.”

Whereas it’s truthful sufficient to confess which you can’t predict the precise issues anybody will do with any new expertise, hoping for others to fill within the gaps looks as if a fairly huge oversight. Particularly provided that 5G rollouts are costly and have but to offer customers with any actually new and compelling use circumstances. Searching Insta and consuming Shorts run simply as nicely on 4G.

After all, not everybody was unsuitable about 5G. Loads of CEOs and pundits noticed that 5G, notably early non-standalone rollouts, may need been an answer on the lookout for an issue. A pat on the again for everybody who accurately recognized that progress was prone to be extra gradual fairly than a big leap.

Nonetheless, those that bought 5G as a technological golden age in ready had been undoubtedly unsuitable, and possibly just a little cynical. With 6G hype already on the horizon, right here’s hoping the following revolution comes with fewer empty guarantees and extra precise progress.