What 5G technology will do for your smartphone's battery life?

Ericsson CEO at MWC (rights go to mobileforesight.com)

We all dream of the day when you can click on a video and have it play instantly.  We don't have time for that buffering circle to cue up for seconds or minutes at a time.  We get more accomplished when we can count on a quick connection.  So, one of the first and most significant advantages of 5G technology deployment is low latency.  Low latency is a measurement of how long it takes to access data.  The lower the latency, the smaller the wait.  So, your device spends less time trying to establish a connection and actually transmits much more quickly.  Spending less time establishing a connection and actually getting the data into your device faster means that your battery is working less time to energize your radio for an extended period of time trying to gain access to data and then transmitting it for a long period of time.  Just like your display, the shorter amount of time it is on, the less battery you use up.  The the much higher bandwidth -that is, the amount of information a connection can handle- on a 5G network provides the ability to improve the speed of the transfer of information as you can carry much more information through a network with higher capacity.  Think of it like a highway.  A two-way two-lane highway is much less efficient than a two-way six-lane high way.  You are able to let through much more traffic through the latter. So goes with a 5G network.  Much more information can go through given capacity of the network.

All of these things point to much longer battery life as your device will be spending less time connected to the tower transferring data.

It appears that the first of the carriers to begin the deployment, albeit partial at first, will be T-Mobile. Neville Ray said during the Competitive Carriers Association earlier this month that their network will be up to one thousand times faster that the current 4G connections, citing industry experts.  Their bold and aggressive UNcarrier moves will no doubt continue to add value to their customer base as all major wireless carriers battle for the top spot.  The winners: smartphone batteries and of course, you -the mobile consumer.