Any person worth their salt in the gaming world knows that sending the words “lag” in the chatbox is now code for “sorry I unintentionally threw the game.”
I’m sick of typing “lag” (and variations of it like “Christmas lights” for when my connection really is to blame) in the chat and getting chewed out by my teammates. It’s not easy being a non-gamer in 2020, when almost everybody has an online multiplayer game on their phone. I never thought I’d be the type of person to do this but, like a spin on the “revenge of the nerd” trope, I set out to beat an amateur gamer at her own game.
My sister Erica often complains about the rest of us at home hogging the WiFi whenever she’s gaming. Despite our snail-paced DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) connection, she still manages to practice often to increase her rank on Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Garena Free Fire. Plus, she’s rarely booted off the ship and often figures out who’s the impostor on Among Us. There are days when she’d stay up until 4 a.m. for a game—that’s how I know she’s totally invested. Formidable enough in gaming, I challenged her to a couple of matches to prove that I’m not entirely hopeless. Since gaming skills don’t develop overnight, I brought an ace up my sleeve: the Huawei Nova 7 SE powered by 5G connection. Watch me show how fast and steady can win the race.
Round 1 : Among Us
Amrie: To win Among Us, you not only have to be good at deception. You also have to be quick. I’m used to waiting to get connected in a room. So when I was able to step in immediately? Instant ego boost. Before the game, I did a speed test to find out how much faster a 5G connection is compared to 4G and DSL. Compared to the four milliseconds delay for 5G, 4G was too slow to even garner an accurate result and it took DSL 53 milliseconds to send information through the connection. That’s a pretty big gap. If I can observe the crew in real-time with a stable signal, I’m on the running to become the next top crewmate.
Out of the five games, Erica got to be an impostor twice. I caught her using the vent in the medbay where I needed to complete a task.
Erica: They called an emergency meeting. Luckily, I didn’t get booted. Call me Littlefinger because I’m the master of lies. (Laughs)
Amrie: Ungh. Sags are so annoying. [Erica is a Saggitarius.] Anyway, I finally caught her in the act at the decontamination area afterward. With the quality image processing brought by the 5G Kirin chipset on the phone I was using, I was able to see things instantaneously and steadily in-game. It seems that the chipset was able to level up the phone’s video denoising capacity. I had a higher chance of not getting noticed by the impostor and reporting the body without getting chased. Me fearing for my life in-game is now a thing of the past.
Erica: Yes, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t scream so much while playing anymore. Frankly, you’re not an observant player. You usually just try to finish your tasks and you panic a lot when a sabotage is happening. So congratulations on catching me that one time. The second time I was an impostor, I got disconnected while in-game. This actually happens to me often so I guess it’s time I got an upgrade, right? Amrie wins this round.
Round 2 : Garena Free Fire
Amrie: Okay, my first thought was that it’s super smooth and seamless. Seriously, lagging has been so ingrained in my user experience that I didn’t know what I was missing out on. I’m not a sharpshooter so being able to outrun my enemies is a huge W for me.
Erica: Yeah, I am one of the enemies in question. A delayed move can mean instant death. It was harder to target you this time. Usually, you also get caught outside the safe zone.
Amrie: It was great. My loot was already S-tier in the first three minutes of the game. I was able to ambush some players who were lagging behind as they were entering the safe zone. Gaming with 5G is a rich multimedia experience—the graphics loading time is great. My aim was a bit better too, wasn’t it?
Erica: Congrats on ranking third in the game. You shot me like twice which I think is a record. I still ranked higher than you but to be fair, being good at shooting takes time. I acknowledge that you improved but…better luck next round. (Laughs)
Round 3 : Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
Erica: We did a custom game for this and when it started, my hero was showing up as a floating orb so I knew it was going to be laggy from the get-go. That happens a lot anyway when someone else is using the WiFi at home.
Amrie: Been there. I was on a private connection so I didn’t have to deal with that. Having a stable signal and an internet speed 10 times faster than 4G was a definite plus. My team had a clear lead in the first few minutes of the game. I’m a bit guilty of sweeping the gold, but I can’t help it if I’m moving faster. Anyway, I was able to buy builds early too.
Erica: Yeah. You hit me with those combo attacks and you were able to use flicker a lot too. You’re lucky my attacks were delayed.
Amrie: Okay, just admit that you didn’t expect me to win and be the MVP.
The Verdict
Amrie: Since I won two out of the three rounds, this phone is giving me a lot of confidence. I can confirm that getting access to a 5G connection is a literal gamechanger.
Erica: Yeah. It gave you a leg up. The connection was super fast and graphics were *chef’s kiss*. I want in on this. You need the dedication to get better at gaming but you also need good gear to be top-notch.
Huawei is offering a line of 5G-ready smartphones, premium tablets and notebook computers. Check out their website to for the full list of features for the Huawei nova 7 SE and the Huawei nova 7. Want to know more about these 5G phones? Join the Huawei online community or browse through Huawei’s shops on Shopee and Lazada.
Art by Dana Calvo
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