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If you've been keeping an eye on all those independent reports and studies conducted by firms like Opensignal, RootMetrics, Ookla, and umlaut these past couple of years, you're probably already well aware of T-Mobile's massive advantage over the competition in nationwide 5G speeds.
But while most recent tests put the "Un-carrier's" download average somewhere between 150 and 200 Mbps, the second largest wireless service provider in the US (by subscriber figures) has a much bigger number to flaunt today. Specifically, 3.3 Gbps. Or rather more than 3.3 Gbps.
Ready, set, fly!!!
Believe it or not, T-Mo claims you should be able to experience such a mind-blowing speed score any day now... as long as you use the Samsung Galaxy S23. Oddly enough, Magenta makes no mention of the S23's Plus and Ultra-branded siblings in today's big four-carrier aggregation announcement, which might simply be an omission on the operator's part.
After all, the three members of Samsung's early 2023-released ultra-high-end smartphone family share the exact same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, which should allow them to benefit from the same connectivity upgrades at the same time.
The Galaxy S23 (pictured here) seems pretty appealing right about now, don't you think?
In a nutshell, four-carrier aggregation means (just as the name suggests) that T-Mobile is combining four 5G channels on the same handset to deliver (greatly) enhanced speeds compared to what was previously thought possible. Of course, this innovation was previously thought possible, enabling 3.3+ Gbps aggregated speeds on the S23 in a public test a few months back.
The game-changing technology is now ready to roll out to the masses, starting with the aforementioned Galaxy S23 and continuing with other unnamed devices (cough, iPhone 14 series, cough) at some point in the near future.
A specialist in metaphors as much as in 5G network advances and upgrades, T-Mo is drawing a very easy-to-understand parallel between its four-carrier aggregation breakthrough and taking "four separate highways" to turn them into a "massive superhighway where traffic can zoom faster than before."
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Keep your expectations realistic!
This particular cluster of "highways" is comprised of two 2.5 GHz Ultra Capacity 5G channels, one channel of 1900 MHz, and one 600 MHz spectrum channel, which makes for an incredibly advanced combination of blazing fast and super-efficient cellular technologies that Verizon and AT&T simply cannot match or compete with at the moment.
While it's clearly extremely unlikely that you'll actually be able to squeeze 3.3 Gbps speeds out of your S23 in real-life use anytime soon, this is just the latest in a long line of pioneering moves that all but guarantees your phone will be faster on T-Mobile than on any other carrier in the US.
No, we don't expect these numbers to go up to 3.3 Gbps... ever.
Incredibly enough, T-Mo remains the nation's only operator with a standalone 5G network without which these speeds would have never been possible (even on paper and in tests performed in controlled environments).
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As such, the "Un-carrier" can "drive toward" a "true" 5G-only customer experience... that unfortunately remains a distant and utopian dream in many parts of the country. A 5G signal, of course, is easily attainable pretty much anywhere nowadays, with T-Mobile boasting nearly ubiquitous coverage of 326 million people across two million square miles.
Ultra Capacity 5G availability numbers are similarly impressive, at 275 million people right now and a 300 million target "this year", but alas, while some users are indeed able to break the 1 Gbps barrier on a daily basis on their ultra-premium phones, many others need to regularly settle for sub-100 Mbps and even sub-10 Mbps scores, resulting in the aforementioned Ookla or Opensignal averages of no more than 200 Mbps.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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