5G+ and 5GA Icon (Pictogram) in New Smartphones

As 5G matures, new icons are appearing on smartphones to distinguish faster or more advanced connections. Some of the latest 5G smartphones around the world have started showing new icons such as 5G+ and 5GA. Interestingly, in Japan these are referred to as pictograms.

A long time ago, we looked at how Swisscom described its 5G rollout as 5G-wide and 5G-fast. Today, Swisscom uses the 5G+ icon to represent what it previously called 5G-fast. In its annual report, Swisscom explained:

5G (and 5G+) is the latest generation of mobile technology. Compared to 3G and 4G, it provides even more capacity, very short response times, and higher bandwidths. 5G technology plays a major role in supporting the digitalisation of the Swiss economy and industry. Swisscom differentiates between 5G-fast (narrower coverage up to 2 Gbit/s and more) and 5G-wide (Switzerland-wide 5G coverage with up to 1 Gbit/s). 5G-fast is also known as 5G+. Both variants are more efficient than their predecessor technologies with respect to energy consumption and use of electromagnetic fields.

Japan has only recently transitioned to using 5G+. A Google-translated page from NTT Docomo explains it as follows:

In areas where 5G communication is possible, the RAT display on standby will be "5G." On the other hand, during communication, the RAT display will be "5G+" for 5G communication using wideband 5G frequencies (3.7 GHz, 4.5 GHz, 28 GHz), "5G" for 5G communication using 4G frequencies, and "4G+" for LTE communication.

There are also footnotes clarifying that the display depends on the device, the bands supported, and the area of use.

お、新しいiPhone
auだと5G+ピクトとHPUE対応か
いいぞ pic.twitter.com/U0J7FWlo1w

— 電波やくざ (@denpa893) September 19, 2025

From this, my understanding is that in newer devices the 5G+ icon is primarily used to indicate speed and capability, regardless of whether the connection is Standalone (SA) or Non-Standalone (NSA) 5G. KDDI is following the same approach, as explained on its own support pages.

A good summary of 5G icons from latest Apple iPhone in Mobile & Wireless Roundup Newsletter from yesterday https://t.co/4yuHzHsRln#Free5Gtraining #3G4G5G #5G #5Gtechnology #5Gdevices #Smartphones #iPhone #iOS18 #5Gicons #USA #ATT #Tmobile #Verizon #VZW pic.twitter.com/YOq7Pv42ZS

— Free 5G Training (@5Gtraining) September 30, 2024

Last year we looked at what iPhone icons meant. In iOS 18, 5G+ indicated that the phone was connected to mmWave. In iOS 19 this hasn’t really changed, although I have been told that it depends on the operator whether they choose to display 5G+ when the device is camped on higher-speed mid-band 5G.

Samsung Galaxy smartphones display two or three types of icons, as shown in the picture at the top. While the meanings are not entirely clear, Samsung’s user guide for Android 15 explains them as:

• Filled square: “5G network connected”, which I interpret as being connected to a 5G Standalone network.
• Transparent or outlined square: “LTE network connected in LTE network that includes the 5G network.”, which I interpret as 5G NSA.  
• I did not find a reference to the unboxed 5G icon in this manual.

Finally, the OnePlus 13 in India has started displaying the 5GA icon. Since Jio only operates a 5G Standalone network, it is possible they have upgraded the network and device to use the Release 18 ASN with some new features. This allows them to market it as 5G-Advanced, thereby justifying the 5GA icon.

If you have noticed something different in your country or region, or have another interpretation, I would love to hear more.

Related Posts:

• The 3G4G Blog: Displaying 5G Network Status Icon on Smartphones and Other Devices
• The 3G4G Blog: When does your 5G NSA Device Show 5G Icon?
• Operator Watch Blog: Swisscom launched 5G Fast and 5G Wide 

Dummy Loads in RF Testing for Dummies

I have spent many years working in the Test and Measurement industry and have also worked as a hands on engineer testing solutions, and as a field engineer testing various solution pre and post deployment. Over the years I have used various attenuators and dummy loads. It was nice to finally look at the different types of dummy loads and understand how they work in this R&S video.

So what exactly is a dummy load? At its core, it is a special kind of termination designed to absorb radio frequency energy safely. Instead of letting signals radiate into the air, a dummy load converts the RF power into heat. Think of it as an antenna that never actually transmits anything. This makes it invaluable when testing transmitters because you can run them at full power without interfering with anyone else’s spectrum.

Ordinary terminations are widely used in test setups but they are usually only good for low power. If you need to deal with more than about a watt of power, that is where dummy loads come in. Depending on their design, they can handle anything from a few watts to many kilowatts. To survive this, dummy loads use cooling methods. The most common are dry loads with large heatsinks that shed heat into the air. For higher powers, wet loads use liquids such as water or oil to absorb and move heat away more efficiently. Some combine both air and liquid cooling to push the limits even further.

Good dummy loads are not just about heat management. They also need to provide a stable impedance match, usually 50 ohms, across a wide frequency range. This minimises reflections and ensures accurate testing. Many dummy loads cover frequencies up to several gigahertz with low standing wave ratios. Ultra broadband designs, such as the Rohde & Schwarz UBL100, go up to 18 GHz and can safely absorb power levels in the kilowatt range

Some dummy loads even add extra features. A sampling port allows you to monitor the input signal at a reduced level. Interlock protection can shut down a connected transmitter if the load gets too hot. These touches make dummy loads more versatile and safer in real-world use.

In day-to-day testing, dummy loads help not only to protect transmitters but also to get accurate measurements. By acting as a perfectly matched, non-radiating antenna, they give engineers confidence that they are measuring the true transmitter output. They can also be used to quickly check feedlines and connectors by substituting them in place of an antenna.

Rohde & Schwarz have put together a useful explainer video that covers all of this in a simple, visual way. You can watch it below to get a clear overview of dummy loads and why they matter so much in RF testing.

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Software Efficiency Matters as Much as Hardware for Sustainability

When we talk about making computing greener, the conversation often turns to hardware. Data centres have become far more efficient over the years. Power supply units that once wasted 40% of energy now operate above 90% efficiency. Cooling systems that once consumed several times the power of the servers themselves have been dramatically improved. The hardware people have delivered.

But as Bert Hubert argues in his talk “Save the world, write more efficient code”, software has been quietly undoing many of those gains. Software bloat has outpaced hardware improvements. What once required careful optimisation is now often solved by throwing more cloud resources at the problem. That keeps systems running, but at a significant energy cost.

The hidden footprint of sluggish software

Sluggish systems are not just an annoyance. Every loading spinner, every second a user waits, often means CPUs are running flat out somewhere in the chain. At scale, those wasted cycles add up to megawatthours of electricity. Studies suggest that servers are responsible for around 4% of global CO₂ emissions, on par with the entire aviation industry. That is not a small share, and it makes efficient software a climate issue.

Hubert points out that the difference between badlly written code, reasonable code, and highly optimised code can easily span a factor of 100 in computing requirements. He demonstrates this with a simple example: generating a histogram of Dutch house numbers from a dataset of 9.9 million addresses.

• A naïve Python implementation took 12 seconds and consumed over 500 joules of energy per run.
• A straightforward database query reduced this to around 20 joules.
• Using DuckDB, a database optimised for analytics, the same task dropped to just 2.5 joules and completed in milliseconds.

The user experience also improved dramatically. What once required a long wait became effectively instantaneous.

From data centres to “data sheds”

The point is not just academic. If everyone aimed for higher software efficiency, Hubert suggests, many data centres could be shrunk to the size of a shed. Unlike hardware, where efficiency can be bought, software efficiency has to be designed and built. It requires time, effort and, crucially, management permission to prioritise performance over simply shipping features.

Netflix provides a striking example. Its custom Open Connect appliances deliver around 45,000 video streams at under 10 milliwatts per user. By investing heavily in efficiency, they proved that optimised software and hardware together can deliver enormous gains.

The cloud and client-side challenge

The shift to the cloud has created perverse incentives. In the past, if your code was inefficient, the servers would crash and force a rewrite. Now, organisations can simply spin up more cloud instances. That makes it too easy to ignore software waste and too tempting to pass the costs into ever-growing cloud bills. Those costs are not only financial, but also environmental.

On the client side, the problem is subtler but still real. While loading sluggish web apps may not burn as much power as a data centre, the sheer number of devices adds up. Hubert measured that opening LinkedIn on a desktop consumed around 45 joules. Scaled to hundreds of millions of users, even modest inefficiencies start to look like power plants.

Sometimes the situation is worse. Hubert found that simply leaving open.spotify.com running in a browser kept his machine burning an additional 45 watts continuously, due to a rogue worker thread. With hundreds of millions of users, that single design choice could represent hundreds of megawatts of wasted power globally.

Building greener software

The lesson is clear. Early sluggishness never goes away. If a system is slow with only a handful of users, it will be catastrophically wasteful at scale. The time to demand efficiency is at the start of a project.

There are also practical steps engineers and organisations can take:

• Measure energy use during development, not just performance.
• Audit client-side behaviour for long-lived applications.
• Incentivise teams to improve efficiency, not just to ship quickly.
• Treat large cloud bills as a proxy for emissions as well as costs.

As Hubert says, we may only be able to influence 4% of global energy use through software. But that is the same impact as the aviation industry. Hardware engineers have done their part. Now it is time for software engineers to step up.

You can watch Bert Hubert’s full talk below, where he shares both entertaining stories and sobering measurements that show why greener software is not only possible but urgently needed. The PDF of slides is here and his LinkedIn discussion here.

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