Jio vs Airtel: Who Offers the Best 5G Experience in India?

KKN Gurugram Desk | India‘s digital future hinges heavily on the performance of its leading telecom giants — Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. With both operators racing to dominate the 5G ecosystem, consumers often find themselves wondering: Which network is truly better?

A new Opensignal report released in June 2025 has offered fresh, data-driven insights into the performance of Indian telecom networks. The report compares key metrics such as download/upload speeds, 5G availability, user experience, video streaming, and network consistency.

Let’s dive into the findings and see which company is leading, and where.

Download Speed: Jio Surpasses 100 Mbps for the First Time

One of the biggest highlights from the report is Jio’s average 5G download speed crossing 100 Mbps, a significant milestone.

• Jio: 106.3 Mbps

• Airtel: 58.3 Mbps

• Vi: 21.8 Mbps

• BSNL: 7.3 Mbps

Jio has improved its download speed by 17 Mbps since the last report, while Airtel has shown a gain of 14 Mbps. This clear lead positions Jio as the fastest network in India in terms of average download speed.

Upload Speed: Jio Edges Ahead with Narrow Margin

While download speeds may make headlines, upload speed is equally critical for real-time communication, video sharing, and cloud usage.

• Jio: 9.1 Mbps

• Airtel: 9.0 Mbps

Jio also improved its upload speed by 2.7 Mbps, compared to Airtel’s 2.1 Mbps gain. Though the difference is marginal, Jio’s consistent push in network performance gives it a slight edge here as well.

5G Experience Awards: Airtel Shines in Video and Gaming

Despite trailing in speed, Airtel has retained dominance in user experience categories like:

• 5G Video Experience

• Gaming Experience

• Live Video Streaming

• Overall Download/Upload Experience

According to the Opensignal report, Airtel’s average 5G download speed stands at 212 Mbps, which is 8 Mbps higher than Jio’s 204 Mbps in the 5G category. However, this is a drop of 28 Mbps from Airtel’s earlier performance, indicating slight instability.

These findings imply that while Jio is gaining speed, Airtel continues to offer a more immersive and stable user experience across entertainment and gaming.

5G Availability: Jio Dominates by a Wide Margin

One of the most critical factors in mobile internet is how often users can access 5G services.

• Jio 5G Availability Score: 71.8%

• Airtel 5G Availability Score: ~30%

Jio has clearly taken the lead here, offering over 40 percentage points higher availability compared to Airtel. This means Jio users are more likely to be connected to 5G in various locations across India, making the experience more reliable and widespread.

Network Stability & Reliability: Jio Comes Out Strong

Beyond raw speed, network stability and consistent performance are essential, especially for remote work, online education, and streaming.

Jio has topped in categories such as:

• Overall Network Availability

• 5G Availability

• Consistent Quality

• Reliability Experience

These results indicate that Jio’s infrastructure is currently more dependable on a day-to-day basis for users relying heavily on consistent data access.

Video Experience: Airtel Leads but Jio Closes the Gap

For users streaming high-resolution videos, the video experience metric matters most. In this category:

• Airtel still leads, but

• Jio has significantly narrowed the gap to just 0.3 points

This means that while Airtel currently offers the best video streaming experience, the lead is minimal and could change in the next performance cycle. Vi and BSNL, meanwhile, remain far behind in this category with only minor improvements.

Gaming and Live Video: Airtel Offers More Responsive Performance

For mobile gamers and live content creators, latency and jitter matter more than raw download speed. Opensignal reports that:

• Airtel provides a more responsive gaming experience, with lower latency and better connection consistency.

• Jio, despite being faster in downloads, lags slightly in real-time response metrics.

This supports the perception that Airtel is still the go-to choice for online gaming and live broadcasting tasks in India.

Regional Performance: Urban vs Rural Impact

While the report doesn’t publish city-wise breakdowns in full, past Opensignal data and trends suggest:

• Jio has stronger performance in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, thanks to its massive infrastructure expansion.

• Airtel performs consistently well in urban centers, especially in terms of user experience and congestion management.

This balance shows how both networks cater to different consumer segments — with Jio leaning towards coverage, and Airtel focusing on quality per user.

Customer Sentiment and Real-World Usage

Performance data is one side of the story, but consumer satisfaction often depends on additional factors:

• Jio users often report excellent availability but occasional buffering in high-demand hours.

• Airtel customers praise the quality of voice calls and gaming but raise concerns over limited 5G coverage in some regions.

Vi and BSNL: Still Trailing in 5G Race

While Jio and Airtel dominate headlines, the other two major telecom players — Vi (Vodafone Idea) and BSNL — continue to struggle in 5G deployment and performance.

• Vi’s average download speed: 21.8 Mbps

• BSNL’s average download speed: 7.3 Mbps

Both companies have made minor improvements in video and download metrics, but lack national-level 5G deployment and competitive performance.

The final verdict depends on what matters most to you:

• If you need consistent 5G availability and top-tier download speeds, Jio is your best choice in 2025.

• If you prioritize video streaming, gaming, and overall content experience, Airtel still holds the edge.

With 5G infrastructure still evolving across India, and government incentives accelerating digital transformation, users can expect further improvements from both networks in the coming months.

Stay tuned with dimgrey-bison-994082.hostingersite.com for upcoming quarterly telecom performance reports, user surveys, and in-depth tech comparisons.

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