Here’s how many readers switch off 5G on their phones

The number of 5G phones is steadily increasing, but the technology has not yet become a key feature in all regions. If you are being served mostly via WiFi all day or are happy with your 4G LTE speeds, you are likely to turn 5G off when it is not really needed. However, would you really turn off a feature on a device you paid for?

This is a thought experiment we recently gave our readers. We wanted to know whether under all circumstances they would leave their phone’s 5G connectivity or turn it off during the day. So they asked.

Have you ever turned off 5G on your phone?

Results

We received over 1,300 responses to this poll, but one election received an overwhelming majority. A little more than 50% of those surveyed do not switch 5G off on their devices under any circumstances. Perhaps these readers feel legitimate benefits from the service or don’t know how to turn off 5G on their devices. Either way, it’s a surprisingly big part, especially considering the views expressed in the comments.

See also: The state of 5G – hype versus reality two years later

Interestingly, several readers ensure that 5G is “always off”. 39.4% of readers admit that they run their phones without 5G at all times. Presumably, these users do not see the benefits of 5G or are in a region that is underserved by the technology.

After all, just over 10% of readers only turn off 5G when they have a weak signal or a weak battery. Judging from the responses in the comments section, a shaky signal seems like a common reason to turn 5G off.

Your comments

• Yup yup yup: I have T-Mobile and I’m using a Pixel 5. When I turn on 5G I lose connectivity and spend most of my time getting the phone to connect. It’s crazy how the 5G signal is showing strong but nothing works. Spend hours a day turning airplane mode on and off and restarting the phone. It’s easier to leave it as LTE preferred and not deal with it.
• Jeff Namhie: I never turn off 5G. My Pixel 5 does it for me.
• AnySmarterIdRunLinux: I turned it off once – the day I got the phone.
• Lamar Taylor: I own the iPhone 12 Pro Max at Verizon and the GS21 Ultra as my business phone at AT&T. So far, 5G is just hype and mostly false advertising … when you get a consistent 5G signal for more than 5 minutes. If you drive, walk, or enter a building, you don’t even have to bother with 5G as regular LTE is faster. I disabled 5G on my iPhone to save battery life.
• Stanley Kubrick: I keep trying 5G on my OnePlus 8T on T-Mobile. I have good 5G reception … full bars. And web-based speed tests show that 5g is faster than LTE. In real use, however, websites are loaded faster with LTE than with 5G. With LTE, the battery lasts longer. Videos on YouTube do not buffer on LTE, while this is sometimes the case on the “faster” 5G! So for now I only use LTE because I think it’s still better. I live north of Houston TX so I’m in a very well saturated 5G area. Until it improves in real use, it’s a no-go for me.

That’s it for this poll. Thank you for your votes and comments. If you have any other thoughts on 5G connectivity please drop them below.