Why the best Galaxy Note 10 experience doesn't come to Verizon
Samsung is at the center of a confusing time in the mobile smart device industry, what about the release of several new epochs in connectivity technology. Samsung Galaxy Note 10 is the key to the company's strategy to continue to dominate the Android smartphone market, not just because of the release time, but because of how Samsung placed the phone in the market – which the PRO smartphone should turn.
If it takes precedence in 2019, the Galaxy Note 10 will be similar to the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus – both in size and in price. With the release of Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, things can change a little. A rumor suggested that we would see more than one Galaxy Note screen size at once – just the second time since the note listing was launched.
This is like the time Samsung launched the single-layer phone Samsung Galaxy Note Edge back in December 201[ads1]4. That was the only time Samsung launched more than a Galaxy Note phone in a single season.
But it's not the smaller screen or the larger screen we're thinking of here when we search for the "best Galaxy Note 10 experience." It's the 5G edition, not just the phone, but the coverage. Verizon confirmed a Galaxy Note 10 with 5G for its network earlier this week.
Verizon and AT & T release what they call 5G "coverage" with mmWave spectrum. As the US focuses on 5G with mmWave, and carriers are not allowed to use sub-6 tapes in the US because they are exclusive to the Defense Defense Department, they are stuck with mmWave (for now).
Samsung CEO Hans Vestberg talked about mmWave coverage plans using mmWave spectrum on the same earnings call where Note 10 5G was confirmed. "We all have to remind ourselves, this is not a cover," said Vestberg. "We want to make it as far as economically sustainable."
"The millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum has great potential in speed and capacity, but it does not travel far from the cell, and does not penetrate materials at all," says T-Mobile's Neville Ray. It will never significantly scale than small pockets with 5G hotspots in dense urban environments. "
Testing of 5G mmWave websites by journalists and analysts over the past few weeks resulted in some less than enthusiastic reactions. "Verizon has insisted that it can use its existing cellular footprint to roll out 5G technology on millimeter wave spectrum. It seems very hard to believe," said BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk after a test visit to the Verizon Chicago 5G coverage area.
"In our limited testing, the 5G small cells provided coverage of only 350 meters," Piecyk said. "In fact, the 5G performance suffered from reduced reliability beyond 200 feet when exposed to street barriers. It is not even close to the 800,000 ft radius that Verizon and its vendors have promised."
If the 5G footprint doesn't get much more massive when August rolls up, there's no way we get our hands on the entire Samsung Galaxy Note 10 experience. Not the "best" Galaxy Note 10 experience in the world, that's for sure.
Return to September 2013 and you will find NTT DoCoMo in Japan and test 5G real, really early. South Korea sorta launched the first 5G network in the world via SK Telecom earlier this year. According to a Nikkei report, the world's first 5G network is "fast but uneven".
"5G service is often cut out," said Kenichi Yamada of Nikkei. "When I walked around Seoul, the icon showing that the phone had dropped into the 4G network was illuminated more than 30% of the time." A bit seemed Yamada to realize, (or perhaps knew, but didn't say), even 70% 5G connection uptime far performed some sort of 5G coverage we've seen here in the US.
If such an experience occurred here in the US anywhere other than a few hundred yards from a 5G mmWave site, we would be shocked. Shocked and excited. But at the moment, the best Galaxy Note 10 (5G) experience looks like it's being referred to South Korea.
