5G speed comparison

[PhoneBalone]

Coming from a Sam S20FE 5G, and the speedtest results had been underwhelming (160 MB down,20 up), . With the Edge, in same locations, I'm getting 1.4 GB down, 86 MB up. Generation change in MODEM/Chipset? Not being 'carrier branded', a temporary lack of tower-side throttle? What has other folks' experience been like - has anyone else noticed a significant improvement relative to previous device?

 

[rvbfan]

Coming from a Sam S20FE 5G, and the speedtest results had been underwhelming (160 MB down,20 up), . With the Edge, in same locations, I'm getting 1.4 GB down, 86 MB up. Generation change in MODEM/Chipset? Not being 'carrier branded', a temporary lack of tower-side throttle? What has other folks' experience been like - has anyone else noticed a significant improvement relative to previous device?

For me? If it hadn't been given to me for the same price and data limits as my old 4g plan? I honestly wouldn't notice any difference in my day to day usage. No differences in streaming or video quality. Large file downloads? Not what my phone is for. Video uploads? Not in a hurry to share on Facebook or whatever. Speeds are higher but honestly, if you are paying more it's not worth it.

 

[B. Diddy]

Which carrier? It could depend on the antenna and 5G capabilities of the phones. If you're on Verizon, for example, you need a phone that supports mmWave 5G to get the superfast speeds. Since you mentioned the Edge+ isn't from your carrier, and if you're on Verizon, then that might be why, since the phone probably doesn't have a mmWave antenna. (Instead, it'd be using Verizon's slower low or midband 5G: https://www.verizon.com/about/news/5g-frequency-bands-explained)

 

[PhoneBalone]

For me? If it hadn't been given to me for the same price and data limits as my old 4g plan? I honestly wouldn't notice any difference in my day to day usage. No differences in streaming or video quality. Large file downloads? Not what my phone is for. Video uploads? Not in a hurry to share on Facebook or whatever. Speeds are higher but honestly, if you are paying more it's not worth it.

No change in plan or pricing. I'm BYOD on T-mobile - so just swap SIM into the new device and go on with life. Previous device was carrier branded - which we got as part of '5G upgrade promotion' they ran 3 years back. Before purchasing, the new device, I compared the bands supported between the old and new device- and the local 'big hitters' were all there. Seems like a nice bonus - and to your point, my old phone was OK for most network performance stuff. I guess I'll just consider it a bonus. Not really expected, but glad it's there.,

 

[B. Diddy]

Ah, I misread your initial question -- I thought the new phone was the one that was slower than the older carrier-branded phone.

Which T-Mobile plan are you on? If it's T-Mobile Essentials, that is subject to network deprioritization when things get busy, so that might explain things (unless the Samsung was always that much slower). Or maybe the tower in your area recently got upgraded -- T-Mobile has been doing a fair amount of improvements in its network nationwide over the past couple of years.