Bucking the general trend: industry experts predict that prices for 5G smartphones will continue to fall. Photo: Andrea Warnecke/dpa-tmn
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(Photo: dpa)
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On the other hand, 5G technology will probably still be found in smartphones in almost all price ranges in 2022. It wasn’t long ago that 5G-enabled smartphones slipped below the price mark of 200 euros for the first time. The 150 euro mark should soon be undershot and 5G established even in entry-level smartphones.
Price war in 5G processors
The reason why names the industry journal “Digitimes”: An emerging price war between the two largest manufacturers of 5G-capable smartphone processors, Mediatek and Qualcomm. It is foreseeable that they undercut each other with the chip prices in the course of the second quarter. Because cell phone manufacturers also have large inventories of 5G processors due to falling smartphone demand.
This constellation could also mean that mid-range smartphones become even cheaper or are more often equipped with more powerful 5G chips that were previously reserved for upper-range devices.
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What 5G contracts are there?
But what good is the fastest, 5G-capable smartphone without a 5G network and contract? All network operators now offer 5G networks, i.e. Telekom, Vodafone and O2 (Telefónica). In addition, 1&1 will set up its own 5G network. Term contracts with 5G activation cost according to “Teltarif.de” currently at least 30 euros per month.
Prepaid contracts with a 5G option are therefore available from Telekom and Vodafone from around 20 euros per month. With cheaper prepaid contracts, you have to pay about 3 euros extra per month for 5G. Depending on the tariff, a time-limited, free 5G test is also possible. With the “O2 test card”, O2 offers a 30-day, non-binding test run for 5G. The mobile phone discounters are still left out when it comes to 5G.
What can 5G do?
And what is so special about 5G now? In short: 5G networks offer very high bandwidths, so they can transmit data extremely quickly. Another advantage is the short response time (low latency).
At the moment, however, the majority of 5G networks in Germany are not yet independent, explains “Teltarif.de”. Rather, 5G usually complements the existing LTE networks. This combination offers higher data transmission speeds than pure LTE networks. Combined networks, for example, still lack the short response time, since this is only possible in stand-alone 5G networks.
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