If you’re looking to buy a new cheap Android phone, 5G is perhaps the last thing to look for. Unless you’re willing to buy flagship or upper-middle-range phones, we’d suggest avoiding 5G altogether and looking for good cheap 4G phones instead.
We’re not saying 5G is bad, but putting it inside a budget phone doesn’t make sense and you’re actually wasting your money as a price conscious shopper. In this article, let us understand the key reasons why you should avoid buying cheap 5G Android phones.
5G infrastructure will take time to set up
Switching to a new generation of cellular technology requires much more than savvy marketing and fast modems. For context, the world’s first 4G phone launched in 2010, but it took until 2019 for 4G technology to be adopted by about half of the world’s population.
Even our most optimistic projections for global 5G adoption point to 2025. And since most people carry their phone around for two to three years, there’s a good chance you’ll want to buy a new phone by 2025 anyway, so it doesn’t make sense to buy a new 5G Android phone right now.
Also, cheap Android phones are made of cheaper and less durable materials and are therefore more likely to quickly become obsolete, so the 5G capability you paid for ultimately goes unused due to the lack of a adequate 5G infrastructure.
On the other hand, flagships are made of high-quality materials and are much more durable and can therefore be used for many years, so you can use 5G on them when the technology finally catches on after a while. Couple of years.
Some 5G plans are unnecessarily expensive
If you’re shopping for a budget phone, getting the most value for your money is your priority. And since 5G is still in its infancy, 5G plans tend to be much more expensive. So you’re probably better off sticking with 4G for the foreseeable future.
Even if you buy a 5G plan, you won’t necessarily get significantly faster speeds. When service providers say they offer 5G coverage across the country, they are mostly referring to 5G Sub-6GHz, which is only slightly faster than 4G.
True ultra-fast mmWave 5G will remain inaccessible and unaffordable to most people until 2025. What makes matters worse is that service providers are pushing confusing 5G standards like 5G, 5G+, 5G UW, and 5G E, making make it harder for the average Joe to compare plans.
Cheap 5G phones have big compromises
Perhaps the main reason you should avoid cheap 5G Android phones is that they come with a lot of compromises. The markup on budget phones is already too low, and adding 5G modems inside a device only increases its cost of production.
Therefore, to preserve their profit margin, smartphone makers have to compromise on other features. Perhaps the camera hardware is outdated, the build quality is poor, the software is not optimized, or the battery has not undergone sufficient quality control testing.
The other option is to offer two different versions of the same phone: one with 5G and one without 5G. For example, the Galaxy A13 costs $189 but the Galaxy A13 5G costs $249.
The 5G model is not only more expensive, but also lacks an ultra-wide lens and Gorilla Glass protection, and comes without dual SIM support, thicker bezels, and get this, a 720p HD display! If it weren’t obvious enough, these specs are completely unacceptable by today’s standards.
To learn more, check out our guide on how much you should spend on a phone.
Avoid 5G if you’re shopping for a budget phone
When you buy a cheap 5G Android phone, you’re paying more for a service you’ll probably never use on a device that gets worse because it supports said service. It’s a lose-lose situation.
If you’re looking for value above all else, you’d be better off spending your money just buying a cheap 4G phone. If your budget is flexible, consider upgrading to a premium or flagship Android phone, so you can take advantage of its 5G capability.