As in previous years, Qualcomm has once again updated its flagship processor-the Snapdragon 865-in Hawaii. Also coming is the mid-range Snapdragon 765 / 765G, which is Qualcomm’s first integrated 5G dual-mode baseband processor. At this point, the mobile phone processor has officially entered the era of SA / NSA dual-mode 5G. The term “true and fake 5G” will eventually end in 2019. By 30 days it was terminated by four major factories.

▲ Comparison of four 5G processors

With the gradual popularization of 5G technology, the new word “5G” has also entered our field of vision in large numbers. Here, you can see a 5G mobile phone on the subway station billboards that commute to and from work every day, as well as on the bus billboardThe 5G advertisement of a certain operator, even when you open the mobile phone, you can see the word “5G” on the opening screen homepage of an app.

“How is a 5G phone good?”, “Should I switch to a 5G phone now?”, ” Will 4G be unavailable next year? “… These are my more common problems recently. The arrival of 5G has changed the pace of cell phone update in the past few years. In the past, every company has been summing up and preparing for the new phone in December. Suddenly more releases.

In my impression, this phenomenon has appeared twice in the history of mobile communication, once in 2009 From 2G to 3G in 2013, and 3G to 4G in 2013, This is the third time.

What are the advantages of 5G?

Before understanding the layout of 5G mobile phones in this and next two years, we need to understand how 5G mobile phones are better than 4G phones What places are worth upgrading.

From our past reports and measured 5G content, its The advantages are mainly reflected in two places:

  • The network speed is nearly 10 times faster than 4G
  • 10x less latency than 4G

    Although I used to test 5G based on the level of ordinary users, I used speed to distinguish the gap between 5G and 4G. However, in addition to 5G being faster, 5G is actually controlled to 1 millisecond delay, which allows the network not only to perform tasks such as web pages and file transfers, but also to carry more complex remote control tasks based on this network.

    ▲ Download and install app using 5G

    IOT is one of the more widely used cases of 5G because it can most intuitively show the new network Applications. But in fact, some companies’ application of 5G has penetrated into the control of unmanned cars and unmanned aircraft. These are actually information transmission based on low-latency characteristics.

    In order to support the large-capacity throughput of 5G, 5G mobile phones also have more antennas than current 4G mobile phones. One thing we can see from this year’s mobile phone manufacturers are fighting for more antennas.

    ▲ Huawei Mate30 Pro 5G has 21 antennas

    With greater capacity, 5G terminals can handle greater capacity under 4G networks Previously, some operators announced that the highest speed of 4G networks could reach 300Mbps, which is close to the 5G level, but only if a 5G terminal connection was needed to achieve it.

    Next year will be a year of true PK for 5G mobile phones

    The 5G mobile phones released this year are mainly divided into two camps, one is using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 series plug-in The flagships of the baseband brands are the Kirin 990 5G, which is based on Huawei and Honor.

    However, as the Snapdragon 865 is currently only released but not yet in mass production, it is optional this year 5G mobile phone, nothing more than the Snapdragon 855/855 Plus with an external basebandFlagship, or Huawei Mate 30 5G series and other models using Kirin 990 5G chip.

    I have always disagreed with using “true and false” to describe NSA and SA networks because this Both are ways to connect to 5G. There is no true or false, but just the difference between current network status and future development trends. But this year Qualcomm only used NSA’s single-mode baseband on the Snapdragon 855. Compared to the dual-mode Kirin 990 5G, it was indeed half a beat slower in terms of baseband.

    Fortunately, at the end of 2019, the Snapdragon 865 finally supports NSA / SA dual-mode Finally, the argument of true and false 5G is ended, and even the mid-range 7-series processors can use 5G baseband.

    However, from the assembly rhythm of Snapdragon processors over the years, the Snapdragon 865 will be mass-produced and assembled in various factories. The fastest will be after the end of January next year, so even if the new machine released in December this year, the combination of Snapdragon 855 + 5G baseband is actually used.

    Of course, before the arrival of the Snapdragon 865, some mobile phone manufacturers have also” rushed “dual-mode Qualcomm products. For example, the Redmi K30 released on December 10 is a dual-mode 5G outside the Kirin processor. Mobile phone.

    ▲ Redmi K30 is the first Qualcomm phone that supports dual-mode 5G this year

    It seems that on the basis of this year’s technology, there will be three trends in the mobile phone market in 2020:

    The first point is that 5G terminals will further replace 4G terminals, and manufacturers will make greater efforts to publicize 5G; secondly, 5G flagship The pricing of the mobile phone will be more accessible to the people. This year, some manufacturers have reduced the price of 5G mobile phones to less than 3,500 yuan. It is believed that after the mass production of Snapdragon 865, the 5G mobile phone market will usher in a new round of price war. Finally, the 5G function startsPutting it in mid-range phones, there will be more and more 5G phones in the 2500 yuan range.

    In addition, after 5G, the operating performance of mobile phones will not be the only standard for mobile phone manufacturers to compete. NPU and baseband will become another force for manufacturers. The former is the brain of AI. Based on the 5G network, the mobile phone will communicate with the smart phone. The ability to play out; the latter is to improve the communication capabilities of mobile phones with cloud, IoT and network HD resources, which is actually related to high-speed and low-latency 5G networks.

    5G is a big trend, but 4G will not fall behind

    To form a complete 5G communication device, in addition to a 5G mobile phone, it also needs to operate 5G tariff package. And even with 5G mobile phones and 5G packages, you still need to be within the signal range to truly achieve a stable 5G high-speed network.

    So, to truly achieve high-speed, low-latency upload and download, you need to meet three conditions: < / span>

    • a 5G phone
    • a 5G communication package
    • Use in 5G signal range

      In these three conditions, 5G mobile phones are actually the ones with the lowest coefficients, because now buying 5G mobile phones There are almost no obstacles. The key thing to consider is whether the usage scenario is within the 5G signal range, otherwise both the device and the package are useless. So I ’m thinking of changing the phoneBefore, we must first understand the 5G signal coverage of the currently selected operator.

      At present, China Mobile, China Unicom, and Telecom’s online business offices can view the coverage of 5G signals. Here is an example of Guangzhou I am in:

      Telecom 5G signals are denser in university towns and urban commercial areas, even with multiple signal range circles. Overlaps, the rest are under construction or relatively sparse layouts; while China Mobile and China Unicom basically cover urban areas, some streets outside the commercial district are relatively sparse.

      ▲ 5G signal coverage hotspots in China Mobile, China Unicom, and Telecom have basically covered large areas in urban areas

      You can see from the maps of the three operators that 5G networks can basically cover the urban area of ​​Guangzhou (Tianhe , Yuexiu, Liwan District) most of the locations (only outdoor), and a few suburban areas can also be covered.

      And according to what we did previously, 5G road test , you can also see that the 5G signals in Guangzhou’s urban areas are relatively stable, and can basically reach the level of 400-700Mbps. So what we can see here is that urban residents can use the 5G network in most cases, but the 4G signal in the suburbs is actually a bit stronger.

      ▲ The test peak is 666Mbps, but this is only 70% of the 5G standard peak at 1Gbps

      Of course, withThe 5G base stations are gradually installed, and more 5G base stations will be set up outside the urban area. For example, from the map of Telecom, 5G signals will cover the entire city of Guangzhou and surrounding cities. However, this will take a lot of time, and it is conservatively estimated that it will take at least half a year to complete the installation.

      In addition to network coverage, 5G tariffs need to be considered.

      The 5G minimum tariffs announced by the three major operators are 128 (mobile) and 129 yuan (Unicom / Telecom), with a rated traffic of 30GB, but it should be noted that the three major operators have divided the 5G packages into several speed grades.

      For example, in the initial “Privilege” package, the peaks of the three major operators are 500Mbps. 5G speed to reach the extreme 1Gbps speed requires more than 200 yuan per month. In the current 4G era, 200 yuan can be achievedA package that allows you to use unlimited data for one month, but in the 5G era, it may only be enough for 5G to run at full speed for a few days.

      Of course, the fact that the data charges are expensive actually appeared when the 4G package just came out, so 5G This is no exception in this era. However, as more and more 5G base stations are installed in the future, operating costs have fallen , I believe The tariffs for 5G packages will also decrease, which is closely related to the coverage rate mentioned earlier-the more people are used, the more base stations are, the operating costs are reduced, and the tariffs are adjusted. Judging from the current usage rate of 5G, it will take at least a year for 5G to be widely available.

      After understanding the 5G network situation and tariffs, it is time to candidate for a mobile phone, if it is positive If you want to change your phone, then 5G mobile phones should be the first consideration for future trends. However, prioritizing 5G does not mean that 4G will fall behind next year. Before the 5G network is stable, 4G still has the advantages of wide coverage and low cost. It can basically meet most of the applications in current life. And This” cost-effective “advantage can continue into next year, and until 5G hardware and networks become popular, 4G will gradually withdraw from the stage.

      Regarding the question of “should I change to a 5G mobile phone now”, I personally think that 5G networks and mobile phones are both Inevitable development trend in the future, If you plan to choose a mobile phone for at least one year or two years, then choose a device that can use 5G. Save the trouble of second replacement afterwards, as long as the network coverage and tariffs are reduced, you can directly upgrade the package.

      However, there are not many 5G mobile phones currently available, especially now that the Snapdragon 865 has not yet mass-produced this node. Optional 5G phones are only available in Snapdragon 855 Plus and Kirin 990 5G, and the price is relatively higher than 4G phones. I personally believe that if you want to change to a 5G mobile phone, you can wait until next year when the 5G processors such as Snapdragon 865/765 are mass-produced and then upgrade. I believe Around March next year, more new 5G flagships and mid-range new phones will debut.