EE is advertising a faster than 5G service which they call 5G+, so what is the proper name for 5G+ and what devices support it?
So what is 5G+?
5G+ is EE’s marketing term for something called 5G standalone. Although all UK carriers have 5G standalone. It is a relatively new technology and only smartphones in the last 3 years have support for it.
These include the Apple iPhone Air, 15, 16 and 17. Samsung A*5 (A15,A25,A35,A45,A55), A*6, A*7 as well as S23, S24 and S25 series.
What is 5G Standalone?
When 5G was implemented, it piggybacked existing 4G networks, often sharing masts and equipment in a rollout known in the industry as 5G Non Standalone (or 5G NSA). This also meant that the devices were reliant on the 4G network with 5G providing the faster network on to of that network.
5G Standalone (5G SA) provides a new network with dedicated towers to offer improved reliability, more responsive networks, lower latency that improves video streaming and game play, less battery drain, improved coverage, stronger indoor signals, and better security.
In fact, 5G Standalone features end-to-end encryption and next generation security.
A new feature in 5G Standalone is something called network slicing, which allows an operator to allocate slices of the network for different use cases, like emergency services need reliability over speed, so network slicing provides that.
What would coverage be like?
Vodafone focused coverage to the main cities and aim to have 99% coverage by 2030 and 99.96% by 2034.
O2 are the second provider to offer 5G Standalone. When they launched in September 2025, they had over 500 towns covered and aim to cover all populated areas by 2030. O2 users can use this network with no changes to their current plan provided they have an R15 SIM and a compatible device.
EE is the third network to offer 5G Standalone with coverage to 610 towns and cities with 95% coverage at launch. They plan to have 99% coverage by March 2030.
Three is undergoing a merger with Vodafone, so there will more likely be use of the Vodafone network for existing Three network users once the merger has completed.
However, it is unclear that the Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) will be able to provide 5G Standalone.
What is the future beyond 5G Standalone?
There are two different directions in the future beyond 5G.
The first is called 5G Reduced Capacity (RedCap) for devices that require 5G but need to run at 70% lower power consumption than a typical smartphone.
The second is 5G Advanced (often coined as 5.5G) will be much faster and more reliable than 5G and serve as a transition to 6G.
