Research firm Telsyte has found that 75% of Aussies will buy a 5G phone is the price is right – the sweet spot seems to be under $1500.
Now GadgetGuy respects Telsyte as an independent Australian research company and finds its insights very useful in understanding how our market is different to say the US or Asia. But we must question its findings of ‘75% of Aussies will buy a 5G phone is the price is right’.
We wonder what questions were asked to elicit their findings
- 61% of Aussies consider 5G a “must-have” smartphone feature
- 70% of those Australians believe it’s about futureproofing their purchase
Aussies are excited about the new speed and capacity the 5G network will bring, helping them overcome connectivity challenges:
- 65% claim to have experienced delays or buffering during videos
- 75% of Australians who have purchased a flagship device outright unwilling to spend over $1,500
While the hip-pocket nerve price of $1500 sounds about right, there is a caveat – ‘who have purchased a flagship device outright’. In Australia, the majority of flagship phones sell on a plan by Telcos where the cost is over 24/36 months, and over 70% of these are on business plans where the cost is tax deductible. There are not many ‘outright purchases’.
We also challenge the reality of the statement regarding futureproofing.
All 5G phones (and for a long time to come) only support the sub-6GHz 5G band which we call ‘4GXL’ because it uses the 4GX network, infrastructure and backhaul. It offers speeds (in an ideal environment) of around 1.2Gpbs when 4GX can almost match that.
The real 5G which all the hype is about is the mmWave spectrum that is not even available yet. We do not expect to see mmWave until 2021 at the earliest, and there are considerable issues with the placement of small cells to use it. We repeat – no phone supports mmWave and will not for some time to come.
These small cells use far higher 24-86GHz frequencies that have very short signal transmission lengths – you need to be within 300 metres of a small cell to use it. And there could be health issues as mmWave sits between microwaves and IR waves. We see mmWave more in the autonomous vehicle and commercial space.
You can read our 5G Guide here which explains all.
At this time your options (all via Telstra on a plan – not outright purchase) are
- Samsung Galaxy S10 5G – details and plan prices here
- OPPO Reno 5G launching 30 May
- LG V50 ThinQ 5G launching 4 June
OPPO’s Reno looks very interesting with a true 5X optical ‘periscope’ OIS zoom camera (10X hybrid) and using the Qualcomm SD855 and X50 modem. Its global website is here and on ‘sex appeal’ alone it’s a clear winner.
The LG V50 ThinQ 5G (US site here) has a second ‘clip-on’ screen that gives this phone enormous flexibility, and the camera is pretty good too.
