Online gaming with smartphones is not the best choice for PC gamers. But you can stream your games from the cloud to your handset, or tether them to your PC, laptop, or even Steam decks. (opens in new tab)… now just a silly idea. A sign of catastrophic lag and a miserable experience, right? In fact, no, it’s not 5G mobile technology.
The reality of 5G cellular is astonishing. First of all, the raw bandwidth on offer is very likely to blow your home landline-based internet service. But don’t get ahead of yourself. First, let’s clarify exactly what we’re talking about here and how to set everything up.
First, you’ll need a 5G-capable smartphone, but you’ll also need to be able to receive it in your area. There is. Then you will also need a game streaming service.
Game streaming, also known as cloud gaming, is, of course, the practice of playing a game on a remote PC or other device such as a console or server and streaming the game over the internet instead of running it locally on your own PC or console. Concept. The two biggest and best cloud gaming services are: Nvidia’s GeForce Now (opens in new tab) When Xbox cloud gaming from Microsoft (opens in new tab)While Nvidia’s services essentially run on cloud-based PC server hardware, with Nvidia graphics chips doing the rendering work, the Xbox Cloud Gaming service runs on Xbox consoles redesigned into blade servers. increase.
When it comes to games, Xbox Cloud Gaming gives you access to all Game Pass games via your Game Pass Unlimited subscription. Meanwhile, GeForce Now includes Steam, Epic Games Store, and Electronic Arts. Ideas are pretty much everywhere as to where and on what devices cloud gaming can be played. GeForce Now supports Windows PCs, iPhones, Macs, Android handsets, and Nvidia’s Shield devices. Xbox Cloud Gaming, on the other hand, covers PC, iOS, Android, the Xbox console itself, and Samsung SmartTVs.
And one more. Let’s be clear about the experience offered in terms of resolution and refresh rate. Cloud gaming is not a low-level, mediocre experience. GeForce Now can stream games in resolutions up to 4K HDR at 60Hz or 1440p at 120Hz. Xbox Cloud Gaming service tops out at reasonable 1080p and 60Hz.
Of course, higher resolutions and refresh rates require more bandwidth. This is where 5G cellular connectivity really scores. In our tests, we reached download speeds of over 800Mb/s in our city center office. This is a staggering number by any standards.
Using GeForce Now as an example, the setup procedure is very straightforward. Let’s say you want to play Fortnite on your Android handset. Simply download the GeForce Now app from the Play Store, launch it, create a new account and start streaming free games right on your handset. For example, if you own games in your Steam library, you can also access many of them through GeForce Now. No need to pay twice.
Free accounts are limited to one-hour sessions and 1080p games, so if you want a full RTX 3080-level 4K game streaming experience, you’ll have to pay £18 a month for an account. Around £11 per month, but limited to 1080p streams.
Expert readers may immediately wonder how that makes sense. After all, using a touchscreen to play an online shooter and remotely control a game being streamed from his server must have horrible input lag. A little lag is noticeable. But it’s much less than you can imagine.
Of course, any 5G handset also has the option of tethering your PC or laptop to play games locally, but using a super-fast 5G connection for internet access. It’s worth checking if you can tether and at what speed you can connect as it may depend on your service provider. It also depends on the speed of your Wi-Fi connection with your PC or laptop. Wi-Fi 6 enabled Blade Stealth running on a 5 GHz hotspot saw speeds up to 500Mb/s.
5G has also been built from the ground up to deliver faster speeds with less latency. So while it’s not as fast as a wired landline connection, I’ve found that it only adds about 60ms to the overall latency. is, for the most part, a surprisingly good experience.
Turns out 5G for gaming isn’t exactly a ludicrous idea.
