Why it matters to you
Wish you could stream higher-resolution video and download bigger apps? Gigabit LTE could help you do just that.
A new generation of 4G LTE is here, and boy, is it fast. LTE connections are getting better and better, but no matter how good your carrier is, you probably aren’t hitting the same speeds the new Samsung Galaxy S8 is on T-Mobile.
In a new video, T-Mobile demonstrates just how fast its new gigabit connection is on the Galaxy S8 — speeds flirted with a massive 1Gbps. Sure, you probably won’t hit those kinds of speeds in real life — but the fact is that this is a pretty significant jump in mobile data speeds.
More: Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 demolishes the competition in new benchmarks
All of this is made possible by the Galaxy S8’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip, which comes with Qualcomm’s latest X16 LTE modem. That modem is capable of handling new gigabit LTE data speeds — but that obviously also requires gigabit LTE from your carrier.
“You know what happens when you combine the most advanced LTE network in the country with Samsung’s most powerful phone ever? An entire industry has to redefine the word ‘fast.’” said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile, in a statement.
It’s important to note that T-Mobile’s gigabit LTE connection isn’t available to the public just yet. The test seen in the video was conducted in T-Mobile’s Bellevue, Washington, lab.
The fact that we’re seeing the new internet speeds now is no coincidence — the Samsung Galaxy S8 is actually the first device available with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, and thus the first phone to be made available that is capable of LTE speeds. We’ll definitely see more phones with the capability this year, especially once the Snapdragon 835 starts coming out on more phones. Gigabit LTE is already live in Australia, and carriers in the U.S. have been experimenting with it a lot over the past few months, so it likely won’t be long until it’s available in the U.S. Sprint in particular has been building the infrastructure for gigabit LTE in 100 markets, and it should launch in major cities in the near future.
Check out the video of the Samsung Galaxy S8 on gigabit LTE below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azsG8NCO9Iw?feature=oembed&w=100&h=100]