In aspects of downlink-only fifth generation new radio, a mobile communication device includes a radio frequency transceiver, a radio frequency receiver, and a processor and memory system to implement a radio control manager application that establishes an LTE anchor link with a base station using the LTE transceiver, establishes a 5G NR downlink from the base station to the mobile communication device using the radio frequency receiver, and manages the 5G NR downlink via an uplink of the LTE anchor link. In another aspect, a mobile communication device estimates channel conditions for a 5G NR downlink, selects a precoding matrix to beamform the 5G NR downlink, and provides an indication of the selected precoding matrix via the LTE anchor link.