Last week, T-Mobile announced its nationwide 5G network, which runs on the 600MHz frequency. The first two devices to support it are the OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren and the Samsung Galaxy Note10+ 5G. And if you"re a Google Fi user, you"ll be pleased to hear that you can get 5G over Google Fi with these devices as well.
Fi users have always been able to use the service with an unlocked phone, and even phones that are locked to T-Mobile. The only difference between that and a phone that"s made for Fi is that it will pretty much act as a T-Mobile phone, so you don"t get the carrier switching that would put you on Sprint"s or U.S. Cellular"s networks if T-Mobile"s network isn"t strong.
The case is the same here. You can use one of the two phones mentioned above and get 5G, but it"s still only going to operate on T-Mobile"s network. The good news is that at least it works, rather than leaving you on 4G LTE.
T-Mobile"s 5G network promises to be 20% faster than 4G LTE. This is because it"s not using any mid-band or mmWave spectrums just yet, the former of which it will pick up from Sprint when the two companies merge. Still, it"s faster connectivity than we had before.
If you"re got 5G-envy and you want to get it on your Google Fi account, just pop your SIM into one of the new 5G-enabled phones from T-Mobile. It"s as easy as that.