does s20 fe 5g unlocked have verizon 5g mmwave support?

[Android Central Question]

does s20 fe 5g unlocked have verizon 5g mmwave support?

 

[mustang7757]

It should , if it doesn't initially will be down the road .

I'll leave a Link to register so you can communicate here as a guest account you can only post questions but can't reply

https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=409154

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! I moved this to the S20 forum for more specific traffic.

 

[KPMcClave]

It should , if it doesn't initially will be down the road

How can it have support down the road if it doesn't now? Isn't mmWave capable hardware required to receive an mmWave signal?

 

[david61983]

How can it have support down the road if it doesn't now? Isn't mmwave capable hardware required to receive an mmwave signal?

Has Verizon given a timeframe for when they will rollout 5G to the rest of the country? I'm in upstate NY and am assuming I won't have it for a while.

 

[bigpapa7272]

How can it have support down the road if it doesn't now? Isn't mmwave capable hardware required to receive an mmwave signal?

Agreed, thats why i bought the verizon variant. the unlocked doesnt have the uw in the description i would also think thats why verizon variant is 50 bucks more on regular retail

 

[KPMcClave]

does s20 fe 5g unlocked have verizon 5g mmwave support?

We've been trying to get a sure answer for this for a couple of days here.

More than once, Samsung customer service folks have told posters here that it does. Someone's invoice at checkout included "UW" in the name of the unlocked phone (which would indicate it does if correct). I saw on Reddit that someone was told by Samsung that the "UW" is a typo (meaning it probably does not support Verizon 5G).

There's the fact that Verizon has it's own special variant, just as it did for the original S20. It was said by Verizon that the S20 UW 5G had to be built "from the ground up" because the components for mmWave 5G didn't fit as is in the S20 (but apparently did in the unlocked S20+ and Ultra). This is supported by the fact that, despite being the same price as the unlocked S20, it had less RAM and no SD card slot like the unlocked version. The Verizon variant of the S20 FE is $50 more at full price (though on sale for the same price as the other variants during pre-order), with no other reasonable explanation for that than they had to do something extra, probably to do with their flavor of 5G.

I also have been looking around the internet for a straight answer on this. I found that the B&H listing for the unlocked S20 FE lists the 5G bands. It does *not* include n261, which is Veizon's mmWave (UW) band:

(scroll down and click on the Specs tab):

https://www-bhphotovideo-com.cdn.am.../samsung_sm_g781uzbmxaa_galaxy_s20_fe_5g.html

Likewise, on Amazon's listing for an unlocked version of the S20 FE the comparisons of phones toward the bottom of the page lists *only* Sub-6 5G for the unlocked S20 FE (note the other phones that do have mmWave mentioned):

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Fact...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU6867302

So, I guess you can make your best guess.

Mine is that the unlocked S20 FE does not support Verizon's mmWave 5G, and that the customer service reps who said otherwise are mistaken. That seems more likely than a Verizon variant phone that is $50 more for no other apparent reason (all Verizon bashing aside).

 

[KPMcClave]

Has Verizon given a timeframe for when they will rollout 5G to the rest of the country? I'm in upstate NY and am assuming I won't have it for a while.

I'm in Central New York. Howdy neighbor!

I'm sure it will be a long time, if ever, before we get mmWave that they have activated now. I think they have said they planned to fill that in nationally with lower speed 5G (I think via Dynamic Spectrum Sharing...which I don't know much about) "before the end of the year." It's October already, so...

 

[KPMcClave]

Agreed, thats why i bought the verizon variant. the unlocked doesnt have the uw in the description i would also think thats why verizon variant is 50 bucks more on regular retail

My conclusion, too.

 

[mustang7757]

How can it have support down the road if it doesn't now? Isn't mmWave capable hardware required to receive an mmWave signal?

It has 5G correct ?
Just like the regular s20 initially didn't have it but down the road got it .

This device will have it


https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/19/...0-uw-ultra-wideband-mmwave-verizon-date-color

 

[KPMcClave]

It has 5G correct ?
Just like the regular s20 initially didn't have it but down the road got it .

This device will have it


https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/19/...0-uw-ultra-wideband-mmwave-verizon-date-color

The original S20 got 5G for Verizon via an entirely different device.

 

[david61983]

So it will have 5G on Verizon just possibly not UW 5g? what is the difference?

 

[mustang7757]

The original S20 got 5G for Verizon via an entirely different device.

Ok

 

[KPMcClave]

So it will have 5G on Verizon just possibly not UW 5g? what is the difference?

It definitely has 5G that would work on the other carriers.

The differences make my head hurt, so maybe someone else can tackle that part.

 

[mustang7757]

It definitely has 5G that would work on the other carriers.

The differences make my head hurt, so maybe someone else can tackle that part.

Verizon has this 5G technology on their network ? Because that's what the S20FE supports

5G support (both sub-6GHz and mmWave)

 

[david61983]

Verizon has this 5G technology on their network ? Because that's what the S20FE supports

5G support (both sub-6GHz and mmWave)

I'm confused.

 

[mustang7757]

I'm confused.

Yeah , that's why all of us trying to figure this out

 

[KPMcClave]

I'm confused.

I'd read my long post, #7 above, and make your own best guess.

 

[KPMcClave]

FYI, I just got my Verizon variant via Fedex. The booting splash screen has the "UW" at the end of the model name. I'll be interested to hear if the unlocked version has that.

 

[mustang7757]

FYI, I just got my Verizon variant via Fedex. The booting splash screen has the "UW" at the end of the model name. I'll be interested to hear if the unlocked version has that.

Congrat on the new device!

Unlocked won't show any type branding like that from any carrier, but like to hear also how unlocked works with Verizon