Google’s Pixel 6 Professional has a quantity of floor-breaking new factors for the US, Neverthemuch less the one Google least Desires to Converse about is its Samsung modem.
After A few yrs of using Qualcomm’s utilized sciences To hook up with 4G and 5G communitys, Google seems to have Converted to Samsung to pair with its in-house Tensor processor—making the Pixel 6 Professional The one Samsung-pohave beend 5G telephone Inside the US.
“Hey, what about Samsung telephones?” you ask. Samsung’s US telephones all use Qualcomm or MediaTek processors and modems pretty than Samsung’s personal Exynos line. Telephones outfacet the US extra typically use Exynos, collectively with the flagship Galaxy S21 line. Right here Inside the US, each Apple’s iPhone 13 line and Samsung’s S21 flagships use Qualcomm’s X60 modem.
Connectivity Is important in a related system. Do You’d like to’ll Have The power tonot maintain related, smarttelephones Discover your self to be pretty irritating To make the most of. So understanding whether or not A mannequin new factor impacts connectivity is pretty important. With that in thoughts, we set out for a weekend and took hundreds of signal samples to divine the distinction between mannequins.
We will not get rid of every variable here. A telephone’s community efficiency Is not simply in its modem; antennas, power amplifiers, and Computer software all play An factor. However take enough samples, And a few conclusions can Discover your self to be clear.
Mysteries of the Modem
The Pixel 6 Professional’s Samsung 5123b modem is a bit shrouded in thriller. All of us Know it is a Samsung 5123b as a Outcome of the modem identify is Inside the baseband Computer software mannequin quantity. Samsung’s Website on the 5123 has Solely a few technical particulars, and The small print on there are mismain. For event, it says the modem has 8-service aggregation for the dpersonallink and 4-service aggregation on the uplink. However no modem in existence proper now has Greater than 2-service aggregation on sub-6 5G; that spec Is primarily talking about LTE services.
For US readers, An important question Is whether or not or not it helps low-to-mid-band FDD/TDD 5G service aggregation, which All of the services will use subsequent yr To enhance their 5G differ and efficiency. Qualcomm’s X60 modems have that.
Google’s specs Website explains there are two fashions of the Pixel 6 Professional, one with millimeter-wave 5G and one with only sub-6GHz 5G. (The millimeter-wave one is the one purchased Inside the US.) The telephone helps all the frequency bands that Shall be Utilized by the three huge US services over The subsequent few yrs, but not how the channels Might be mixed.
The modem is A minimal of Just Just like the 5123a used Inside The worldwide Samsung Galaxy S21 collection. At least one firmware dump from that modem Does not current any low-to-mid-band 5G service combinations. It is incas quickly asivable to utterly rely The potential out, but indicators aren’t good.
Whether It is the Samsung modem, Android 12, or each, the Pixel throws community-measurement apps for a loop. I used the app Internet Monitor and the Ookla Velocitylook at shopper app, and in each circumstances the Pixel would frequently throw what Appeared to be dangerous signal quantitys, or no signal quantitys, into the Android APIs.
Evaluating T-Mobile signal power was particularly troublesome Since the Pixel Wouldn’t report LTE RSSI (a primary signal power quantity) when related to the 5G community. Nonethemuch less, although, I acquired enough samples To draw a conclusion.
Signal: S21 for the Win
Velocity look ats on the Verizon community have been usually slower on the Pixel 6 Professional (left) than on the Galaxy S21 Extremely (proper).
Internet Monitor takes signal samples every second, so I ended up with about 2,000 facet-by-facet samples of Verizon signal and about 350 facet-by-facet samples of T-Mobile signal. Signal power was as strong as -53dBm and as weak as -125dBm.
Virtually any method You narrow it, the Galaxy S21 collection did higher than the Pixel at capturing 4G LTE signal. This is The general picture second by second; what it appears like if the alerts have been averaged out minute by minute; and who gained if only dangerous-signal end outcomes (-100 or worse) have been chosen. As You will Have The power to see, in all circumstances the S21 facet-by-facet reported higher signal power, usually between 2-5dBm.
There’s one exception. When the Pixel is on 5G, it Does not report 4G signal power correctly. It does, however, typically report a signal power referred to as NRRSRP, which Inside the non-standalone contextual content materials we see 5G in right now, usually corresponds to the 4G signal power of the band used Since the administration channel. And there, I noticed an odd Outcome. Solely when related to 5G on the T-Mobile community, the Pixel 6 Professional confirmed higher signal power than the S21 Extremely.
So as that Desired to be resolved with speed look ats.
Velocity: Nonethemuch less the S21
I additionally did 24 Ookla speed look ats In a quantity of places on Verizon’s community, in A combination of 4G, 5G DSS and millimeter-wave places, And seven on T-Mobile. The S21, as quickly as as quickly as extra, acquired here out pretty clearly on prime.
Useful by Our Editors
The Most very important variations appeared on Verizon mmWave, the place the Pixel 6 Professional wrestled to make it a lot over 1Gbps the place the S21 approached or broke 2Gbps.
More primarily for my signal end outcomes above, on T-Mobile’s mid-band “ultra performance” community, the S21 did higher on six out of the seven look ats. It only failed the seventh one as a Outcome of the Pixel picked up 5G In a single spot the place the S21 was caught on LTE. However That is why you do a bunch of look ats—one outlier Does not outline The reply.
In the chart under, longer inexperienced bars imply the S21 gained head-to-head conlook ats extra typically. As You will Have The power to see, Just about all of our look at packages had longer inexperienced bars.
What I Did not See
Former Verizon and US Mobile PR supervisor Albert Aydin says that for him, any transition between LTE, 5G, and 5G UWB on the Verizon community Leads to A scarmetropolis of all connectivity for 30-60 seconds. I didn’t see that; the Pixel dropped Out and in of 4G and 5G second by second.
Tweet
PCMag’s Steven Winkelman based mostly his conclusions on the Pixel With The power To take care of a connection in a wooded rural space the place the S21 Might not. I did my look ats in NY metropolis and used brick buildings To Scale again signal power. More typically than not, my telephones have been on mid-band frequencies. Rural spaces usually rely extra on low-band frequencies. So the Pixel might have higher efficiency in low-band-only environments.
Conclusion: Qualcomm Beats Samsung
The quantitys are the quantitys, and the quantitys say—for now—that the Google Pixel 6 Professional’s modem-RF system aren’t pretty As a lot Since the requirements of The latest Qualcomm merchandise.
What Which implys for you is that in metropolis spaces, the Pixel 6 Professional on the T-Mobile and Verizon communitys Will not have pretty The extent of efficiency of the iPhone 13 or Samsung Galaxy S21 line (a lot much less the upcoming Galaxy S22). You will see knowledge connections wrestle in weak signal spots of cities. The jury’s still out in rural spaces, given The two completely different mannequins of end outcomes we acquired.
Like What You are Studying?
Be a part of Race to 5G publication to get our prime mobile tech tales delivered proper to your inbox.
This textual content material might include promoting, provides, or affiliate hyperlinks. Subscribing to A mannequin publication signalifies your consent to our Phrases of Use and Privateness Coverage. You’d possibly unsubscribe from the publications at any time.
Source: https://www.pcmag.com/news/google-pixel-6-pro-vs-samsung-galaxy-s21-which-one-wins-at-5g