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Verizon tells users to disable 5G to preserve battery, then deletes tweet

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A giant Verizon 5G logo in an expo hall.

Enlarge / A Verizon booth at Mobile World Congress Americas in Los Angeles in September 2018. (credit: Verizon)

Verizon has spent years hyping 5G despite it bringing just a minor speed upgrade outside the limited areas where millimeter-wave spectrum has been deployed, but the carrier’s support team advised users yesterday to shut 5G off if their phones are suffering from poor battery life.

The tweet from VZWSupport, now deleted, said, “Are you noticing that your battery life is draining faster than normal? One way to help conserve battery life is to turn on LTE. Just go to Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Voice & Data and tap LTE.”

While Verizon didn’t mention 5G in the tweet, people who responded to Verizon on Twitter and journalists writing stories noted that the effect of these instructions is to shut 5G off. “LTE is active by default as a backup for those times when 5G isn’t available. Following these instructions actually has the effect of turning off 5G,” Mashable noted. (Verizon’s instructions are for iOS, but it’s also possible to disable 5G on Android phones.)

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