The Pixel 6 Pro.
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
Google’s new Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, launched at Google’s Oct. 19 Pixel occasion, each appear poised to rival the iPhone 13 and the Galaxy S21 as the very best telephones of 2021. They boast spectacular cameras, quick processors and trendy designs. Where Google seems to vary from its Apple and Samsung rivals, a minimum of on the primary few days of preorders, is in whether or not its new telephones will work with the newest 5G networks. The quick reply? It’s sophisticated, significantly should you’re seeking to purchase a telephone immediately from a provider or unlocked from Google itself, or from a 3rd social gathering like Best Buy. Whereas you should purchase a brand new iPhone 13, put your SIM card in and know that it is going to be ready to make use of the newest networks out of your provider, the identical cannot be stated proper now concerning the Pixel 6.
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At concern seems to be deciphering a mixture of a number of unclear net pages from the search large. Google’s foremost Pixel 6 and 6 Pro tech specs pages all record two totally different fashions: one which helps all flavors of 5G — millimeter-wave and “Sub-6” (which is a time period that encompasses mid- and low-band 5G) — and one other that helps Sub-6 networks however not millimeter-wave.
A help web page, in the meantime, says the Pixel 6 will help all flavors of 5G within the US, whereas the 6 Pro will likely be restricted to simply the millimeter-wave taste. It’s a large number, however here’s what we all know proper now and what it is best to know should you’re considering of shopping for Google’s newest telephones.
The sophisticated record of US provider help on Google’s Pixel help web page.
Google/Screenshot by Eli Blumenthal/CNET
The Pixel mess
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
With the Pixel 6, Google initially seems to be sending combined messages. Depending on which web page and wonderful print you take a look at, the machine could or could not have been listed to work with all variations of your provider’s 5G community. And there does appear to be a discrepancy, each within the units and the pricing. Verizon confirmed to CNET that purchasing a Pixel 6 or 6 Pro immediately from Verizon will get you a telephone that works on all of its flavors of 5G, millimeter-wave and Sub-6. There is, nonetheless, a premium for the Verizon Pixel 6. When shopping for immediately from Verizon the telephone will price you $700, or roughly $100 greater than Google prices for an unlocked Pixel 6 bought immediately from the Google Store. The 6 Pro begins at round $900 from each Google and Verizon. AT&T tells CNET one thing comparable. When shopping for immediately from AT&T, each the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro will help millimeter-wave and Sub-6 variations of 5G. AT&T’s concern? Its pricing begins at $740 for the Pixel 6 and $940 for the 6 Pro, each larger than what Google prices for unlocked variations. A consultant for the provider didn’t share a purpose why its pricing is costlier. T-Mobile, in the meantime, matches Google’s pricing of $599 for the Pixel 6, however its mannequin solely helps the midband and low-band variations of 5G, not millimeter-wave. For the 6 Pro, T-Mobile helps all flavors of 5G, and the value is just like Google’s. On Wednesday afternoon Google confirmed to CNET that the unlocked Pixel 6 accessible from its retailer will solely help Sub-6 5G networks in any respect three US carriers. The unlocked Pixel 6 Pro, nonetheless, will work with each millimeter-wave and Sub-6 variations of 5G. The totally different flavors of 5G
James Martin/CNET
As folks have been holding onto their telephones for longer, it is sensible that when shopping for a brand new machine at this time you will need it to be able to tapping into the newest 5G networks for the following few years.US carriers, specifically Verizon and AT&T, have been actively deploying millimeter-wave 5G throughout components of a number of dozen cities (plus stadiums, arenas and airports) across the nation. Verizon, particularly, has been touting its millimeter-wave community (referred to as “Ultra Wideband”) in its early 5G advertising and marketing over the previous couple of years.
T-Mobile has carried out some millimeter-wave 5G rollouts, however has largely centered on the opposite Sub-6 types of 5G. Millimeter-wave is the quickest model of 5G. It has obtain speeds that may attain a number of gigabits per second nevertheless it suffers from severely restricted protection, significantly outside the place it may be restricted to only a few choose blocks in a metropolis or sections in a stadium. It additionally struggles to penetrate indoors. Low-band 5G presents the very best protection and might work wonderful indoors, nevertheless it typically has speeds equal to a superb 4G LTE connection.
Midband 5G, as its title implies, presents a center floor between the 2: considerably quicker speeds than 4G LTE whereas nonetheless masking a wider space and dealing indoors. T-Mobile has been probably the most lively of the US carriers with deploying midband 5G to date (what it calls Ultra Capacity), and has beforehand stated it plans to cowl 200 million folks nationwide with this service earlier than the tip of 2021. AT&T and Verizon have every spent billions of {dollars} this yr shopping for up midband spectrum often called C-band, and each plan to start deploying these networks on the finish of this yr and into early 2022. Both carriers stated on Oct. 19 that the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro they’re promoting ought to be appropriate with their respective C-band networks. T-Mobile stated on Oct. 20 that each Pixel telephones would help its C-band community that is slated to start out rolling out on the finish of 2023. Google stated on Oct. 21 that unlocked Pixels will be capable to get a software program replace to allow help for C-band, however that it is going to be as much as the carriers to certify the unlocked telephones to permit the units to work on their respective networks. Read extra: 5G Ultra Wideband, 5G UC, 5G Plus — we clarify the provider 5G names
What do you have to do? Currently, provider help for the Pixel 6 is a giant downside. Nobody needs to purchase a telephone, discover out it would not work as anticipated after which must return it and undergo the method once more. But proper now the one technique to know you are getting a Pixel that works along with your provider is to purchase immediately from that provider. For T-Mobile customers, the Pixel 6’s lack of a higher-frequency 5G corresponding to millimeter-wave is way from a deal-breaker for the common Pixel 6, a minimum of within the quick time period. The provider already has a strong midband 5G community, has not likely deployed millimeter-wave and its C-band community is not coming till the tip of 2023. For these with AT&T or Verizon, should you’re in a position to make the most of a trade-in or improve deal, then shopping for immediately from the provider may not be a foul choice. The promotion and trade-in may offset the value distinction between shopping for from a provider or shopping for from Google. Buying this manner appears to be the most secure means to make sure that the Pixel you are getting will work with the key community enhancements each carriers are set to ship over the following few years.