5G, worth it?

[Nial]

My daughter's phone's up  for renewal, she's got an iPhone XR, the screen's cracked so we want to get a new phone.

Previously there have been technical reasons to upgrade, face recognition, significantly better cameras etc, but looking at the tech specs there's barely any difference between going for the XR again and the iPhone 11. 

The only difference between the XR and the 12 is that the 12 has 5G, but it's a fair bit more expensive.

The question is, does anyone have 5G on their phone, and is it worth paying extra for it??

Thanks for any input.

 

[Raja Clavata]

Depending on how often you replace her phone, I'd consider holding off for now. You also need a 5G data plan to make use of 5G and would need to check coverage in the area you operate in order to leverage the benefits.

My 11 Pro Max with come off contract later this year and I'll go SIM only until such time that I get 5G in the areas I frequent, then and only then will I upgrade the handset and data plan.

[Nial]

Thanks, though as I said she's damaged her existing phone so it does need replaced.

 

[Rewulf]

48 minutes ago, Nial said:

Thanks, though as I said she's damaged her existing phone so it does need replaced.

 

Get the screen repaired, it isnt as expensive as you may think.

Iphone contracts are expensive , because of the cost of phone , and coupled with 5G , you could be looking at £60 + a month in total.

5 G simply isnt worth it at the moment, when they start deliberately degrading the 4 G signal and speeds (as they did with the 3G to 4G transition) then it will be considerably cheaper and more wider coverage.
Until then, its a faddy thing for tech heads who want the biggest and baddest , and arent shy of paying for it.

[figgy]

The latest I phoned are very hard to repair. Almost impossible so replacement or official apple repairs only. 

Wife's I phones is out of contract later this year and she will probably upgrade to the base model of whatever is the latest as she doesn't like the large phones.

[Rewulf]

35 minutes ago, figgy said:

The latest I phoned are very hard to repair. Almost impossible so replacement or official apple repairs only. 

https://www.ismash.com/collections/iphone-xr-repairs

£110 for this national chain of repairers , around £200 for Apple to do it.

Shopping around could certainly see the price reduced from that, you can buy the screens and have a go yourself for £50 (Dont do it )

A second hand good condition XR is about £250

[Scully]

Son had the screen in his 6 replaced. Cost 170 quid. 

[scouser]

Open a savings account with nationwide, you get free travel & phone insurance 

[Nial]

I think it's the back of the phone that's glass that's quite badly shattered. She took it into Apple and was told that

as this is what everything mounts into it's more or less not repairable.

"5 G simply isnt worth it at the moment, when they start deliberately degrading the 4 G signal and speeds (as they did with the 3G to 4G transition) then it will be considerably cheaper and more wider coverage. Until then, its a faddy thing for tech heads who want the biggest and baddest , and arent shy of paying for it"

That's my suspicion too. 

[Bigbob]

My son gets his done for £80  he works in a kitchen and leaves it on a surface to play music and it gets knocked over and the screen damaged  he just takes it to a stall in the center and picks it up a hour later . Its happened a few times now i think he gets mates rates LOL 

[muncher]

I just had the screen replaced in my iPhone 7 Plus for £30. Every other place wanted  £70 plus. I must say it’s the roughest street in my town and English is a second language 🤣

[JohnfromUK]

Check 5G coverage maps; at present it is just cities adn larger towns.  Unless yopu live in/regularly visit covered areas, you will get no benefit.  Secondly, there is very little that needs the extra speed of 5G.  i'm guessing tat some gaming mighht be better, but not much else in real terms.

[WalkedUp]

We get good prices from Vodafone due to my wife’s job in education. She sorts out the phones. A few months ago she asked, “do you want to ungrade to the latest 5G iPhone?” I replied “No, my phone works just fine”, she added “The new one is cheaper”. Deal done. Think we pay £38 per month for huge data etc each. Worth seeing if you or a relative are on their list of partner companies / sectors as it is a huge discount. Our home internet is with them too.

5G is no different to any other data connection. I remember when 3G was “superfast”. 

I’ve checked, mine is the iPhone 12 Pro 

[JTaylor91]

Have a look at buying the phone outright and getting a sim only deal, you might save money in the long run. I think Apple offer 2 years interest free now too. I pay £24 a month sim only for unlimited everything, it also includes Spotify which usually cost me £10 a month anyway.

[Cosmicblue]

I'm not a fan of the Apple stuff however life would be very dull if we all liked the same kit.

I'm had two 5G capable phones, Samsung Galaxy S10 and S20 over the last couple of years, both 5G capable and on a Vodafone 5G contract.   5G service availability is patchy and typically I've only found it in major cities.

I buy my phones outright and get a SIM only contract - often the break-even point (Contract vs outright purchase) is around the 10-15 month point.

Samsung provide an official mobile repair service (warranty and repairs) where the tech arrives in a mobile workshop and fixes the offending device on the drive.  

SamsungRepair.com

 

 

 

[billytheghillie]

wish i could afford to buy my daughter a i phone.

[Vince Green]

5 hours ago, Cosmicblue said:

I'm not a fan of the Apple stuff however life would be very dull if we all liked the same kit.

I'm had two 5G capable phones, Samsung Galaxy S10 and S20 over the last couple of years, both 5G capable and on a Vodafone 5G contract.   5G service availability is patchy and typically I've only found it in major cities.

I buy my phones outright and get a SIM only contract - often the break-even point (Contract vs outright purchase) is around the 10-15 month point.

Samsung provide an official mobile repair service (warranty and repairs) where the tech arrives in a mobile workshop and fixes the offending device on the drive.  

SamsungRepair.com

 

 

 

Like you I gave up on apple phones a couple of years ago and now have two Samsung Galaxys. 5G doesn't offer me anything I am likely to ever need. certainly not in Cornwall

Buy outright seems to be the perceived wisdom these days

Edited May 27, 2021 by Vince Green

[figgy]

On 26/05/2021 at 13:08, Rewulf said:

https://www.ismash.com/collections/iphone-xr-repairs

£110 for this national chain of repairers , around £200 for Apple to do it.

Shopping around could certainly see the price reduced from that, you can buy the screens and have a go yourself for £50 (Dont do it )

A second hand good condition XR is about £250

Have a look at the videos of the latest I phones. The indipendant repairers are saying almost impossible.

A screenshot of results from Google.

[Dave-G]

1 hour ago, figgy said:

Have a look at the videos of the latest I phones. The indipendant repairers are saying almost impossible.

A screenshot of results from Google.

Hopefully that will stop a lot of buyers upgrading. BTW, being almost a recluse, my sim only contract wi Vodafone is only £7-70 pm, wifes is £6-60.

[Pangolin]

On 26/05/2021 at 19:43, WalkedUp said:

 

5G is no different to any other data connection. I remember when 3G was “superfast”. 

 

It is very different, if you are in an area with good coverage its much faster than 4G.

 

[Saltings]

if in a city maybe  depending in the center or outskirts     a rural area no       remote  areas with an old orange 6310 had signal could talk to anyone  now i phone x cant do anything walk about like a metal detector looking for one bar to phone home     moving on is now going backwards        a mobile phone is not fore phone calls 

[WalkedUp]

16 hours ago, Pangolin said:

It is very different, if you are in an area with good coverage its much faster than 4G.

 

I work in the city centre of a major city. 4G was perfect. 5G is just the same in my opinion. The speed of the phone and any website issues seem to have more of a bearing on my user experience. 

[strimmer_13]

I get 4g here at times (and like saltings, I spend half the time looking like a zombie on spice). It's 14mbs and I've not found anything on my phone where I thought I needed more. Videos load faster than I can watch them, even the filth teamtractor sends me loads almost instantly 😂

 

Edited May 30, 2021 by strimmer_13

[mel b3]

1 hour ago, strimmer_13 said:

I get 4g here at times (and like saltings, I spend half the time looking like a zombie on spice). It's 14mbs and I've not found anything on my phone where I thought I needed more. Videos load faster than I can watch them, even the filth teamtractor sends me loads almost instantly 😂

 

The dirty xxxxxxx !.  I can't believe he's sending it to you ......and not me !!!!!😅.

[strimmer_13]

18 minutes ago, mel b3 said:

The dirty xxxxxxx !.  I can't believe he's sending it to you ......and not me !!!!!😅.

Trust me, you don't want it, you won't sleep facedown for weeks