Consumers Want to Cut Through the Hype About 5G

According to a recent PCMag survey, 71 percent of respondents think 5G is just hype right now, and 41 percent of those who want 5G are concerned they won’t get it where they live.

5G has become one of the most hyped buzzwords in the tech industry, but most consumers are still left wondering exactly what it is, when and where they’ll get coverage, and what kinds of real world improvements they’ll actually see when 5G cellular networks finally roll out across the country.

PCMag has run a lot of surveys on 5G to find out what consumers think and want out of the technology. In January, we surveyed 2,500 US consumers about which device-makers they think are leading in the race to 5G, and their biggest wants and concerns over cheap, broad availability of 5G connectivity. We also found a lot of 5G confusion about whether users already had 5G on their phones or in their homes (they didn’t) and what that “5G E” indicator actually means.

A few months later, they’re still confused. In a new survey of 1,528 U.S. consumers about 5G technology, we polled users on what carriers they think are leading as part of our larger Race to 5G series, which tracks 5G progress each month made by AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. The survey also found that while nearly a quarter of respondents want 5G, 41 percent of that group is concerned that 5G won’t cover the area in which they live.

MORE: https://www.pcmag.com/news/367750/consumers-want-to-cut-through-the-hype-about-5g