Despite widespread public discourse about the potential socio-economic, environmental, and health impacts (positive and negative) of 5G technologies, many questions remain. Using representative (on age, gender and NUTS-1 region) cross-sectional data from 11 countries, we investigated: 1) whether people see the benefits and/or risks of 5G applying more to themselves personally, or to society in general; and 2) key factors explaining positive and negative perceptions—across countries and sociodemographic and health-related characteristics. On average, 5G impact perceptions were close to neutral, with little meaningful differentiation between personal and societal domains; yet consistent with the Impersonal Impact Hypothesis, among those groups exhibiting strong perceptions of impact, differentiation was more evident. Additionally, systematic variations emerged across sub-populations: younger (16-24 vs. 25+), men (vs. women), university-educated (vs. not), higher-income (5th vs. 1st quintile) respondents, and those living with other adults and children (vs. alone) reported significantly more positive perceptions of personal and societal impacts of 5G. Those that reported being particularly sensitive to Radio Frequency Electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) typically had more negative personal and societal 5G impact perceptions. We found that positive perceptions of impacts were centred on technological advancements (speed, connectivity), while negative perceptions were driven by health concerns relating to 5G. We observed heterogeneity in impact perceptions and motivations at the country-level. Our findings highlight the need for targeted communication addressing health concerns and technological benefits, adapted to key sub-populations and national contexts, to facilitate informed decision-making.