5 Unexpected Devices That Can Run On A 5G Network

Since it was introduced in 2019, 5G has taken over the U.S. Customers can get a 5G signal across the country, and (compared to 4G) this has enabled real-world speed improvements on cellular connection, near zero latency, and the ability to connect millions of IoT devices. Basically, anything could run on a 5G connection, if companies decided to make it so. With a 5G network, you might find laptops, autonomous vehicles, and even your own home internet can run on cellular 5G.

The adoption has been so interesting that even Apple — always a slow player in the market, taking a couple more years to introduce a phone with 5G support – now offers an Apple Watch with those capabilities. Apple users should also know rumors suggest a new MacBook Pro redesign could also support 5G connectivity. More importantly, as companies start to build the foundation for the upcoming 6G network era, there are new promises over a true revolution in speed, reliability, and number of gadgets that can be connected simultaneously, while opening up the doors for even more applications in different fields, like telemedicine.

With new wearable trends where the smartphone becomes the 5G hub for smart glasses, AI companions, and more, there are also products that can properly function without Wi-Fi, only relying on a 5G network. These are some of them.

While it’s not a widespread functionality, some laptop makers offer laptops with 5G connection. After all, who never wished to just have a strong cellular connection on a laptop while working from a café, instead of asking for a password or using your phone’s hotspot, quickly draining the battery life of two products at once? Among the options, Microsoft offers its latest Surface Pro for Business laptop with 5G connectivity.

Made out of a slim, lightweight chassis, Microsoft’s laptop is in-between a convenient tablet and powerful computer. It features different configurations based on the Intel Core Ultra processor customers might choose from, as the Ultra 7 model comes with an OLED display and wide range of RAM and storage configurations, while the base model uses LCD and just two different options of RAM.

This 2-in-1 laptop features both nanoSIM and eSIM technology, so you can choose how to connect this device to a 5G network, and Microsoft touts these extended capabilities as a way for professionals to use Copilot and other AI applications, no matter what. Though this laptop is part of Microsoft’s business lineup, anyone can buy this computer, as it gives flexibility for professionals to work as they want: tablet or computer modes, or on Wi-Fi or 5G.

Cellular-connected drones are expected to be one of the biggest things in the upcoming 6G market. Still, as we advance into this late era of 5G, there are already applications with drones being controlled on private 5G networks. Currently focused on the B2B market, Nokia’s solution includes its drones, a docking station, ground control station, and add-on equipment, such as a dual gimbal camera, enabling multiple drones to fly automated individual missions from a single ground control station.

Nokia is currently focusing its offering for sectors like energy, construction, agriculture, mining, public safety, telecom, and applications like fire monitoring, perimeter security, industrial inspection, and more. In these cases, the advantage of 5G is the low latency of this cellular band combined with prioritized connectivity thanks to a private network that can’t be disrupted by public network congestion.

For customer-focused applications, the closest option for 5G drones is a 4G/5G dongle that DJI offers. Even though it’s not available in America, overseas users can buy a cellular dongle for the DJI Mavic 4 Pro. The main advantage is you would be able to fly the drone for as long as the connection is stable, which would potentially give you a wider range than the drone’s current capabilities.

While people are used to having a fiber connection at home or work, there’s a new trend gaining strength, which is the 5G home internet modems. In the U.S., there are three major players: T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T. T-Mobile, as of 2026, has the best coverage, and starts at $50 per month with a typical download of 245 Mbps and peaks over 400 Mbps, in addition to unlimited data. Verizon has plans starting at $50 per month and can hit speeds up to 300 Mbps, or, on premium mmWave plans, up to 1 Gbps. AT&T is the newest player and offers $60 per month plans offering 75 to 225 Mbps speeds.

The main benefit of choosing a 5G home internet modem rather than a traditional fiber plan is no cables or professional installation is required. Once you get the modem, you just need to plug it into power and you’re online in minutes. It also doesn’t have annual contracts, and often no equipment or activation fees. Besides that, existing wireless customers can get a bundling discount, making the plan more enticing for renters, frequent movers, or in a building where it is tricky to add fiber. The downside, however, is connection depends on tower distance and congestion, so it may not seem like a good idea to switch to a 5G modem from fiber.

Autonomous vehicles are slowly expanding, especially in China and the U.S. While in America, Waymo uses 5G in the background, as the platform does not rely on continuous wireless connection to drive safely or require car-to-car communication, China’s Baidu Apollo Go has a different approach. Operating in some Chinese cities and abroad, it relies on 5G cloud remote driving, which means if the vehicle gets confused or something happens, a remote human operator can step in and safely guide the car from a control center. This is possible because 5G’s near-instant connection lets the operator see and react in real-time.

These cars already have cameras and sensors to handle most driving, but 5G works as an “extra sense,” as it lets cars instantly get updates from smart traffic lights, road sensors, and other cars about things it can’t see itself, like a truck blocking a hidden turn. With upcoming 6G capabilities, these autonomous vehicles will become even more reliable and better connected to each other, as they will combine large language models to offer more sophisticated onboard decision-making, alongside integrated sensing and communication, where the network can contribute to situational awareness, rather than just relaying data between separate sensors.

5G robots are somewhere in between what’s coming soon and what’s already here. In the B2B market, Amazon, Agility Robotics, and Agibot are deploying humanoid robots into warehouses and factories. These industrial robots use both Wi-Fi and 5G technologies, as they need reliable responsiveness to tackle their tasks, especially if they’re interacting close to people. Since Wi-Fi can struggle to keep this latency in large, moving facilities, this is where 5G steps in.

On the other hand, some real customers got early access to 1X’s NEO home robots, which rolled out in 2026 and are expected to scale. They’re made to handle daily chores and whenever they can’t perform a task by themselves, you can enlist a human operator to help guide it. With that, not only will the robot be trained by the operator in these real-life scenarios, but 5G will play an important role for low-latency actions. In the near future, it’s possible we will start to get more applications for consumer robots. For example, Agibot launched a humanoid robot rental program where you can hire a robot for a specific task or date, such as for social interactions, help giving a tour, and other possibilities.