Samsung’s latest phablet offering, the Galaxy Note 8, has support for Sprint’s High Performance User Equipment (HPUE), but unfortunately for another major US wireless carrier, T-Mobile, the device does not have support for the Uncarrier’s new 600 MegaHertz spectrum. Samsung had just formally announced the newest Galaxy Note lineup addition this week, with a price range of $950.
Back in April earlier this year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had revealed that T-Mobile had emerged as the biggest winner in the agency’s last incentive spectrum auction, committing around $8 billion. Then earlier this month, the third biggest wireless carrier in the United States had announced its intention to cover more than a million square miles with its roll out of its 600 MegaHertz airwaves within the year. But it bears noting that for now, no smartphone currently released in the market comes with support for the spectrum. T-Mobile, however, has promised that by the final quarter of 2017, phone makers such as Samsung and LG will have introduced new devices that can tap into 600 MegaHertz. Still, the Galaxy Note 8 does come with support for T-Mobile’s Band 12, plus 4 X 4 MIMO, 256 QAM, and three carrier aggregation.
And depending on which mobile operator, the phablet can also tap into other existing forms of wireless tech. For instance, as mentioned earlier, the device comes with support for Sprint’s HPUE. Right now, the carrier is looking to broaden its 2.5 GigaHertz spectrum by as much as 30 percent to almost level to that of its midband spectrum at 1.9 GigaHertz.
On AT&T, the Galaxy Note 8 will have support for the major US mobile operator’s 5G Evolution. This offering includes wireless tech such as C-RAN, 256 QAM, 4 X 4 MIMO, and three carrier aggregation. The phablet will also offer support for Band 66, which is an AWS band that helps 5G Evolution. Similarly on Verizon Wireless, the Galaxy Note 8 also has support for Band 66, plus LTE tech such as Cat 4, Cat 6, Cat 9, and Cat 11.
The global smartphone market is looking to become more competitive in the next few weeks. Some might say that Samsung has effectively started the ball rolling with the announcement of its Galaxy Note 8, and other highly awaited high profile releases will soon follow, like Google’s new generation Pixel devices, and of course, Apple’s next iPhone offering