5G mobile phone case analysis: the essence is another "5G mobile phone"

Recently, the world's first mobile phone case "5G communication case" that can realize the second change of 4G mobile phone to 5G through eSIM technology was officially released. According to relevant introduction, this "5G communication shell" of Soyealink is the first to adapt to Huawei P50 Pro. That is to say, Huawei P50 Pro, which can only use 4G network originally, can use 5G network with the help of this mobile phone case. So what exactly is a phone case like this?

5G phone cases that are not "plug-in modules"

In fact, there have been a lot of news about 5G mobile phone cases as early as two months ago. At that time, a blogger also posted a "Motorola 5G case" to prove the feasibility of the 5G mobile phone case solution.

As early as 2018, Motorola launched an exclusive 5G plug-in device for its new Moto Z3, the 5G Moto Mod, to upgrade 4G mobile phones to 5G mobile phones. The 5G Moto Mod has a built-in 2000mAh battery, and the module has a complete 5G modem and antenna. With the 5G Moto Mod, the Moto Z3 can connect to the 5G network.

However, with the official release of official information, the "5G communication shell" of Diyuan Technology can be said to be completely different from the Motorola 5G shell in the technical route.

To put it simply, Motorola's 5G case appears as a module of a mobile phone, and there is no SIM card slot or eSIM chip inside. The "5G communication shell" of Shuyuan Technology is more like another "5G mobile phone", or an independent smart terminal device.

On the official website of Shuyuan Technology, we can find the hardware information of the 5G communication shell. The 5G communication shell contains an eSIM chip, a dual-core CPU, and a USB Type-C interface for data transmission.

The eSIM is a digital SIM card. For example, if we have a Tencent QQ account, we only need to enter the account password to log in freely on the mobile phone/computer. The eSIM mode turns the mobile phone number into an account that can be logged in. As long as the device has an eSIM chip, after obtaining the authorization of the operator, the card data can be downloaded to the eSIM chip to achieve free switching and login.

And some operators have also launched the eSIM No. 1 dual-terminal service. Simply put, the mobile phone number can be logged in on two smart devices at the same time (the second device is an accessory device, currently mostly a smart watch), and the two devices share a package. And can make calls and Internet access respectively.

So from a technical point of view, there are two ways to go for the "5G communication shell" of Shuyuan Technology. The first is to use the No. 1 dual-terminal mode, that is, the mobile phone number of Huawei P50 Pro is the main number, the number on the 5G communication shell is the "auxiliary number", the numbers on the two cards are the same, and the 5G communication shell is obtained through eSIM 5G network, and transmit the 5G network to Huawei P50 Pro through the Type-C interface . The second is to give the 5G communication shell a new number through the eSIM independent number service, obtain the 5G network through the new number, and transmit the 5G network to the Huawei P50 Pro through the Type-C interface. However, since the current business is mainly for smart watches, the settings of the relevant Internet access packages cannot meet the Internet access needs of mobile phones (only the Internet access needs of smart watches), so the second method is unlikely to be implemented.

Can Apple phones also be used as "5G communication shells"?

In fact, such a way of sharing the network is not new in Apple mobile phones or Android mobile phones.

Taking an iPhone as an example, the “personal hotspot” feature of an iPhone can share its Internet connection in 3 ways, namely:

1. Wireless local area network (Wi-Fi)

2. Bluetooth

3. USB (wired connection)

With the help of this technology, if we turn on the personal hotspot with a 5G iPhone (such as iPhone 13 Pro), and then connect the hotspot with Huawei P50 Pro, then Huawei P50 Pro is connected to the 5G network through the iPhone. In some ways, the Huawei P50 Pro is now a 5G phone from a 4G phone.

Traditional SIM vs eSIM

For the above Apple mobile phone as a "5G communication shell", some friends may have some doubts, feeling that this technology is still not the same as the 5G mobile phone shell. After all, such an implementation method requires two physical SIM cards, while Shuyuan Technology's "5G communication shell" only requires one physical SIM card. Regarding this point, in fact, this is not a technical issue, but an operator's choice issue.

The first is a cold knowledge about Apple's mobile phones. Most of the mobile phones released by Apple in recent years have eSIM chips. However, due to the small promotion of operators supporting this eSIM service, domestic users are rarely aware of this. In addition, the eSIM services of most domestic operators are mainly used to support IoT devices such as smart watches, and seldom support mobile phones.

Take China Mobile (Hong Kong) as an example. The eSIM service they launched allows smartphones, tablets, smart watches and other devices to independently connect to the network without relying on a physical SIM card.

That is to say, if we have an iPhone 13 Pro and apply for the eSIM service of China Mobile (Hong Kong), we can achieve the effect that the iPhone 13 Pro can obtain the 5G network through the eSIM chip. This is consistent with the way Data Source Technology's "5G communication shell" obtains 5G networks.

Epilogue

1. The essence of the 5G mobile phone case is the "castrated" product of the 5G mobile phone . Compared with 5G mobile phones, 5G mobile phone cases do not require components such as batteries, screens, and cameras. And because the 5G mobile phone case only needs to handle network functions, the requirements for the CPU are not very high, and manufacturers can choose relatively low-performance, low-cost CPUs. Therefore, the overall cost of the 5G mobile phone case is relatively low.

2. Sharing the network through USB is not a high-tech, nor is it a high-tech to make the "castrated" product of a 5G mobile phone into the shape of a mobile phone case. Therefore, the technical threshold of the 5G mobile phone case industry is not high. In the future, if there is a need, mobile phone manufacturers and smart watch manufacturers can quickly enter this industry.

3. The demand for 5G mobile phone cases in the future is actually not clear. For the mobile phone industry, integration is the future trend, and there are actually many problems caused by "plug-ins". Unless a company with a special situation like Huawei can only solve the 5G problem through "plug-in", there will be a clear demand for this.

4. The current price of 5G mobile phone cases is too high. According to information released by China Unicom, the official price of this 5G communication shell is 799 yuan. From the hardware configuration point of view, it is not worth the price. Taking the Tianyi No. 1 5G cloud phone released in 2020 as an example, Tianyi No. 1 is equipped with Ziguang Zhanrui Tiger Ben T7510 5G chip, equipped with a 6.517-inch HD + water drop screen, rear fingerprint recognition, 4GB+64GB configuration, built-in 5100mAh battery . Such a configuration was only 999 yuan when it was released that year, and now the phone is priced at less than 700 yuan on some e-commerce platforms. Even the 5G mobile phone released a few years ago, the hardware configuration is much stronger than the 5G communication shell.

5. The biggest advantage of the 5G mobile phone case is that it adopts the shape of the mobile phone case, which continues the normal usage habits of mobile phone users.

6. The 5G phone case will reduce the battery life of the phone . The 5G communication case adopts a battery-free design, so the 5G communication case consumes the battery of the mobile phone, which will inevitably reduce the battery life of the mobile phone.

7. The 5G phone case will incur additional charges per month.

Taking China Unicom's eSIM service as an example, if the eSIM one-number dual terminal service is used, an additional fee of 10 yuan per month is required. If the eSIM independent number service is used, the corresponding monthly rental fee needs to be paid additionally every month.