What will happen to 4G phones when 5G becomes widely available?

Asked by Rehan_01 (20

) October 10th, 2021

When 5G becomes widely available in, say, 3–4 years, will 4G phones be outdated and end up like those with 3G? Should we buy an affordable 5G phone today in compromise of the quality of other specs? And, do we have to buy a new 5G phone to get good connection, or will 4G phones have their own place in the market for a while?

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3 Answers

People will throw the dang things away and go back to land lines.

kritiper (25757

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Some parts of the US will not be able to use 5G for many many years to come if not ever. I don’t know what country you are in, but I don’t see any problems coming any time soon with 4G phones being obsolete. The only possible problems are the usual ones, which are phone manufacturers designing updates that make old phones incompatible with lots of newer applications and accessories.

JLeslie (65903

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Eventually 4G will go away, but not for a good long while. 5G is far from universally available in the USA, and won’t be for quite a while, if ever. And the fact that there are two (competing) 5G standards makes acceptance even more of a distant dream.

If you have a 4G phone, you can use if almost forever.

elbanditoroso (33686

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