Henry Nicholls/Reuters
- The Samsung Galaxy S10 5G is the first 5G smartphone, and owners will be able to connect to some 5G networks in certain cities, depending on their carriers, when it's released.
- The lineup of cities lit up with 5G is pretty limited so far.
- Some carriers might roll out their 5G networks later this year, but they might not be compatible with the Galaxy S10 5G
- The Galaxy S10 5G is an early adopter device that most people shouldn't buy if they want a long-term 5G smartphone.
Here it is, the first smartphone that can connect to fabled 5G networks - the Galaxy S10 5G, which Samsung unveiled on Wednesday alongside the company's flagship Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10 Plus, and even its new foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Fold.
With 5G comes the promise of super fast data speeds, virtually zero latency (websites and videos will appear almost instantaneously), and fewer speed drops when networks get congested during peak hours.
Indeed, the Galaxy S10 5G comes with different hardware than the regular Galaxy S10 phones that allows it to connect to 5G networks. That extra hardware is Qualcomm's X50 modem. All phones have modems, but the X50 is one of the first that can connect to a 5G network.
The problem is that there are several different types of 5G networks, like "sub-6GHz" and "millimeter wave," and Qualcomm's X50 modem only supports the millimeter wave 5G spectrum.
That's actually fine for some of the mobile 5G networks that currently exist and are rolling out in 2019, but carriers will start using the sub-6GHz 5G spectrum over time as they expand their 5G networks. That means Galaxy S10 5G users will be able to enjoy some earlier 5G networks from their carriers, but as carriers expand their 5G networks starting in 2020, Galaxy S10 5G owners will be left in the past.
Check out which cities feature - or will feature - a 5G network that are compatible with the Galaxy S10 5G: