After a decade during which 4G was the safe bet on all commercially sold smartphones, 5G arrived on mobile devices in the early 2020s. This new connection standard promises very high speeds, which should , in the future, to be able to reach 20 Gb/s for downloading, and 10 Gb/s for uploading.
However, for the time being, you have to be content with much lower speeds, between 150 Mb/s and 1 Gb/s for downloading and 50 Mb/s to 250 Mb/s for uploading.
This is still much higher than 4G and such a fast connection opens the door to new mobile uses.
If your current smartphone is compatible with 5G, it is in your best interest to turn to a suitable plan, that is to say that works on the 5G network.
For this, you have the choice between various trusted operators, who all offer suitable offers.
Here are the operators you can choose to benefit from a 5G plan at the best price.
5G package: the best French operators
Are you looking for a 5G plan adapted to your needs, which displays a reasonable price?
Here are different cell phone carriers that may be of interest to you.
Prixtel, flexible 5G
Prixtel is a mobile phone operator that has been operating for about 15 years.
Its positioning has not changed since its inception: it offers flexible packages to its customers.
This means that, each month, you only pay for the amount of mobile data you use, regardless of the calls, SMS and MMS you send, since these are included in unlimited in each plan.
The various Prixtel offers are all based on three levels, which correspond to a maximum quantity of data.
Your monthly bill corresponds to the level in which you are at the end of the month.
At Prixtel, 5G is not offered on all packages.
It is available as an option within the most comprehensive package available from the operator.
You can therefore activate it whenever you want from the customer area, and pay the amount associated with this option in addition to each monthly level.
This possibility is particularly advantageous, since it leaves you entirely the choice between 4G and 5G.
In addition, all Prixtel packages are non-binding, which is an additional argument in favor of this particularly competitive French mobile operator.
Prixtel uses the SFR mobile network to operate.
Discover the Prixtel mobile plans here
Free Mobile, 5G in quantity
Free Mobile is an actor who arrived on the French market in 2012, and who took the opportunity to put a good kick in the anthill as far as tariffs are concerned.
Xavier Niel's company started on the market at a time when 3G was dominant: he then worked with Orange to extend its 4G network and today it has its own 5G antennas throughout France.
However, Free Mobile has chosen to reserve 5G for its most expensive mobile plan, which is also the most complete.
The amount of associated data is very large, which makes it possible to take advantage of very high mobile speed without really worrying about running out.
An interesting promotion, especially since Free Mobile has chosen to offer only non-binding packages.
Discover the Free Mobile mobile plans here
RED by SFR, 5G as an option
Launched in 2011 by SFR, Red by SFR represents its “low cost” branch which only offers non-binding packages that use its mobile network.
It is an alternative to SFR's commitment packages, which are more expensive and usually come with a subsidized smartphone.
RED by SFR's proposal stands out from the competition in that it allows its new customers to precisely compose their package: choice of the quantity of mobile data to be used in Europe, choice of the international option, but also choice of the mobile network, it is the user who decides and who pays the associated price.
When we talk about the choice of mobile network, we are talking about 4G or 5G.
Therefore, if you want to take advantage of very high mobile speed, you have to pay a little more.
However, the proposal remains reasonable enough to be interesting.
Discover the RED by SFR mobile plans here
B&You, 5G in a special series
B&You is a creation of Bouygues Telecom which decided, in 2011, to differentiate its subscriptions without commitment and its offers with commitment.
For a very long time, B&You's proposal focused on 4G packages, which are cheaper and therefore more interesting for fans of low-cost offers.
However, aware of market developments, Bouygues Telecom has decided to add a non-binding plan that works on its 5G network to its B&You catalog.
If the amount of mobile data associated with this 5G B&You package is intended to be substantial, it must still be admitted that the associated rate is not the most competitive on the market.
However, if you still want to take advantage of Bouygues Telecom's 5G network, you can turn to this proposal which promises to be permanent on the operator's site.
Discover the B&You mobile plans here
Cdiscount Mobile, 5G accessible
The operator Cdiscount Mobile is an MVNO, that is to say that it uses the mobile network of another operator to work.
In this case, when you take out a non-binding subscription with Cdiscount Mobile, you use Bouygues Telecom's mobile network.
The vast majority of offers displayed at this virtual operator involve access to BT's 4G network.
However, faced with increasingly fierce competition in the field of 5G, Cdiscount Mobile has finally decided to offer a 5G package as well.
The amount of mobile data available may vary depending on the time, because this operator is used to regularly changing its offers and therefore its prices at the same time.
It is very common to find three 4G plans for one 5G plan, but since there is a choice, it is quite easy to find the one that can suit your needs advantageously.
Discover the Cdiscount Mobile mobile plans here
Orange, 5G with or without commitment
At Orange, 5G has been available for a long time since this operator was one of the first to start deploying its very high-speed mobile network.
Orange has long relied on packages only associated with a commitment, but the situation has changed recently: now, some of Orange's 5G packages are accessible without commitment and without a subsidized smartphone.
A situation that denotes a desire for change at this incumbent operator, and it is to the advantage of its customers.
However, it should still be noted that while some Orange 5G packages are non-binding, they only benefit from a really advantageous price for one year: at the end of this period, they increase in price.
This is a point that should not be overlooked to take advantage of a really cheap 5G plan.
Discover the Orange mobile plans here
Why switch to the 5G mobile plan?
Choosing to invest in a 5G plan is the guarantee of benefiting from the best on the market in terms of mobile offers.
Today, 4G+, which is the fastest version of 4G, displays download speeds of between 200 and 300 Mb/s, with a maximum speed of 1 Gb/s.
On the 5G side, it already goes up to 1 Gb/s depending on commercial offers and it will be able to go up to 20 Gb/s in the future.
The room for improvement is still huge, but the difference is already obvious in many uses.
If 4G+ can compete with ADSL, in some cities in France, 5G already corresponds to the speed of an optical fiber.
In such a context, downloading a 4 GB video file with a 4G connection can take up to 3 minutes, while in 5G, the process takes less than 15 seconds.
If you are a fan of streaming on your smartphone, 5G allows you to enjoy your films and series without interruption, and you can also play on your mobile phone with almost non-existent latency.
It is therefore not difficult to understand the interest of investing in a 5G plan now.
In the years to come, very high speed mobile is, in any case, destined to become the dominant network: ten years ago, 4G completely crushed 3G and it will be the same soon with this new generation.
Therefore, if your current smartphone is compatible with 5G, you can subscribe to a suitable plan whenever you want.
How do I know if my smartphone is 5G compatible?
All high-end smartphones sold since 2020 display compatibility with the 5G network of all operators.
As for mid-range smartphones, this observation was mainly confirmed in 2022. Finally, it still happens that entry-level smartphone models come out with 4G support, and therefore leave 5G side.
In other words, if you've purchased a high-end smartphone in the past two years, there's little doubt that it's a 5G-capable model.
If your smartphone is mid-range or entry-level, or dates from before 2020, the situation is less obvious.
You can simply type the name of your model into a search engine, adding the term "5G" to its name, to access the information that interests you.
Its box or its technical sheet can also inform you on the subject.
If you have an Android smartphone, you can also go to the Settings > Connection > Mobile networks > Network mode menu to see if a 5G network is displayed in the automatic connections proposal.
If not, your smartphone is 4G only.
If you own an iPhone, the first model to have 5G was the iPhone 12. If you have an older iPhone, like an iPhone 11 or iPhone XR, you're limited to 4G.
Which operator has the best 5G network?
Today, four operators share the market in terms of mobile networks: SFR, Orange, Bouygues Telecom and Free Mobile.
If their coverage of the territory is relatively similar, the quality of the connection can vary.
This is why Arcep, which is the French telecom policeman, regularly draws up a report to find out which mobile telephone operator offers the best network.
In 2022, the operator with the best 5G mobile speed is Orange, followed by SFR, Free Mobile and Bouygues Telecom.
It should nevertheless be specified that the tests used to develop this classification are intended to push connections to their last entrenchments, which is not necessarily representative of the use made of them by mobile users.
In other words, in use, it's a safe bet that all networks are equal, or almost.
If we stick to network coverage, Free Mobile holds first place with around 15,000 5G sites in the territory.
Then come Bouygues Telecom, SFR and finally Orange.
It's worth pointing out that the two ratings are quite different, and more coverage doesn't equal better throughput.
In short, determining precisely which operator has the best 5G network is complicated, because many technical criteria come into play.
In practice, when choosing your 5G plan, it seems more appropriate to take an interest in the amount of mobile data included, the integrated advantages, the price and whether or not there is a commitment over time.
This should help you more than a ranking that changes regularly and often tends to forget the real needs of users on a daily basis.
