Early 5G Smartphones Arrive But Fail to Justify Immediate Upgrades
Major Android manufacturers are unveiling expensive 5G smartphones at Mobile World Congress, yet the technology remains an incremental upgrade. Consumers find little compelling reason to rush into buying these pricey devices.
Major Android manufacturers flood this year's Mobile World Congress with new 5G smartphones, led by Samsung and followed closely by rivals like Xiaomi and Huawei. Prices for these next-generation devices vary wildly, ranging from a relatively affordable $680 for Xiaomi's Mi Mix 3 5G to an astonishing $2,600 for Huawei's foldable Mate X. Android brands eagerly embrace 5G as a exclusive marketing tool to boost stagnant smartphone sales while Apple sits on the sidelines.
Chipmaker Qualcomm strongly backs this 5G push and uses the events to subtly mock Apple during an ongoing patent dispute. However, actual live demonstrations of the technology fall flat, with Xiaomi's highly touted 5G video call exhibiting noticeable latency. The on-stage presentations ultimately fail to deliver a compelling 'must-have' moment for the audience.
Selling phones based solely on network connectivity proves to be a tough challenge, especially since 5G networks are just beginning their soft rollouts from cash-strapped carriers. Without any killer use-cases currently available, 5G represents only an incremental upgrade for everyday consumers in the near to medium term. As a result, there is no real rush for average users to empty their wallets for these early devices.