It is no longer news that MTN Nigeria launched their 5G service a couple of months back, you can read that here, but the opporunity to experience this service has been limited to a few devices. Apart from the 5G Router sold by MTN, only Iphone users on at least ios 16.2 (12, 13, 14 and SE 3rd Gen) can had access to the 5G experience on MTN.
Well, that changed for Samsumg users a few days ago, for me it was Wednesday 27th of April 2023 when I received an SMS from MTN telling me that my device has been activated for 5G services. Even though I have being looking forward to the service, I honestly did not believe it will chnage the way I experience the internet (I mean, decent 4g speed is decent for most Gaming and Streaming needs).
I have to confess that the tech child in me was was very excited to able to get the experience and test it out. I could not wait to close from work to experience the power of 5G (LOL), luckily MTN gve me 5GB to enjoy the service; this was handly in my speed test.
How fast was it?
A lot of factors affect the speed you can get from any network, your location, things like your device, distance fom the base station, buildings etc, I carried out the test but indoors and outdoors using a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra which is currently my daily driver. And luckily from me I have 5G coverage in my area.
I used the speed testing servies at speedtest.net for the test and was able to acheive a maximum speed of 298.64 Mbps while outdoors and away from any building. The speed dropped abit to a maximum of about 65Mbps when I tested in my home office, the drop in speed was expected as it is widely know that the technology that drives 5G does not do well with buildings and other obstruction.
What do I think?
I think its great thing to experience and I can say I experienced a sustained decent speed while on a video conference using my mobile, but I have to say I was not blown away but I can say 5G no be juju (LOL), 4g already ensures no buffering streaming. I’m one of those who belive the real benefit of 5G is in the industrial space and probabaly not in our homes.
I was not able to get a 5G signal on my Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra but in very suprisingly twist, I recieved 5G signal on my Realme GT Neo 2. I also have to tell you that the speed of 5g comes at a price, your battery go feel am.
PS: MTN realeased the list of official Samsung phones supported as Samsung Galaxy A73, Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23 Plus, and Galaxy S23 Ultra 5G; other 5G enabled Samsug phones will likely to supported very soon.
