The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10 Plus are expected to arrive on the world market this Fall, and as usual, buyers want to know what network bands and compatibility they can expect. Thanks to the FCC, we know that the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10 Plus will have the same network bands.
There’s GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850 and 1900, referring to 850MHz and 1900MHz band frequencies as well as 2G service (hence “EDGE”) on AT&T and T-Mobile, both carriers using GSM technology. “GSM” stands for “Global System for Mobile,” and GSM phones allow you to place SIM cards in them from other places around the world when traveling and still use voice and text.
Of course, all versions of the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10 Plus in the US will be unlocked, even those with carrier service. Having all smartphones unlocked allows Samsung to make carrier bands for them all without concerning itself with different wireless bands for different units.
Then there’s UMTS 850, 1750, and 1900, “UMTS” standing for “Universal Mobile Telecommunications System.” UMTS refers to CDMA technology, “CDMA” being acronymic for “Code Division Multiple Access,” what some see as outdated technology with US carriers Verizon, Sprint, and fifth-ranked regional carrier US Cellular.
It is based on the GSM standard but reaches out to CDMA carriers to offer support as well. The numbers “850,” “1750,” and “1900” stand for band frequencies. This means there’s support for Verizon, Sprint, and US Cellular, so that customers not on the GSM standard (like AT&T and T-Mobile) can still have phone support.
As can be seen from the chart supplied by the FCC and posted over at Droid Life, there are a wide number of LTE bands available for Samsung’s next “Galaxies.” LTE Band 71 refers to the 600MHz spectrum for mobile phones made in 2017 and beyond. The 600MHz spectrum, as you may know, is coveted by T-Mobile and allows for easy transmission of data and the ability to talk whether one is outdoors on in buildings.
In-building coverage is a particular problem for a number of phone carriers, and T-Mobile’s 600MHz spectrum enhances its in-building wireless coverage. LTE Band 71 is a paired band to help with data transmission from towers to mobile devices and back.
LTE Band 12 is used to support T-Mobile’s 700MHz spectrum, known as T-Mobile’s “Extended Range LTE” for those who live beyond urban areas and city life. The Galaxy Note 10 series has LTE Band 12 support for rural phone users. LTE Band 13 provides faster band frequency, while LTE Band 14 refers to First Responder Network Authority, spectrum used for nationwide public safety alerts and messages.
LTE Band 66 is used for LTE, a new mobile phone band technology known as “long term evolution.” Band 66 is known as AWS (American Wireless System) and includes paired and unpaired bands. Paired bans such as AWS-1 and AWS-3 allow data transmission from towers to phones without interference. T-Mobile has Band 66 in its devices, launched by the UNcarrier in 2016. AT&T and Verizon own AWS-3 spectrum and have also launched Band 66 in their devices. Band 66 includes Band 4.
LTE Band 30, once exclusive to AT&T in 2015, has now arrived on other carriers as well, with frequencies starting at 2300MHz or 2.3GHz. LTE Band 48 is known as “CBRS,” meaning “Citizens Broadband Radio Service.” CBRS is designed to give wireless access to the general public.
It consists of Bands 42 and 43, used by the military and Navy, with a lower tier for general public access. CBRS Band 48 has better security, speed, quality, and performance than traditional Wi-Fi. In the future, CBRS Band 48 will play a key role in the rollout of 5G and IoT solutions, as well as virtual reality (VR).
2.4GHz WLAN Wi-Fi is an important discussion when it comes to data range and speeds. There’s also 5GHz Wi-Fi, but unfortunately, the Galaxy Note 10 series won’t support the 5GHz band. The 2.4GHz has long-range data coverage but transmits data at slower speeds than 5GHz, which provides faster data speeds at shorter distances. 2.4GHz, then, provides better coverage despite slow data speeds. “WLAN” stands for “wireless local area network.”
The U-NII-1, -2A, and U-NII-3 bands are also for Wi-Fi as well, being used for both indoors and outdoors and allow for greater band frequencies.
Along with all this wide coverage for carriers, LTE, and Wi-Fi for voice calling and texting, there is Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), ANT+, and MST support. Bluetooth support allows users to connect Bluetooth devices to the Galaxy Note 10 series. Near Field Communication (NFC) allows for Google Pay payments (at NFC terminals, of course).
MST, “magnetic stripe transmission,” is the technology Samsung uses for its Samsung Pay payments service. MST allows users to pay with their biometric authentication (fingerprints, iris scans, etc.) at credit card terminals without the need to have traditional credit cards. For some reason, Samsung removed MST from its smartwatch lineup with the Galaxy Watch but kept it in its Galaxy flagships.
All of this technology comes packed into the Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10+ (Galaxy Note 10 Plus). Samsung will announce the Galaxy Note 10 series on August 7th at its Galaxy Unpacked 2019 event in New York City. Pre-orders for the upcoming phones will take place on August 9th, with the Galaxy Note 10 arriving in stores by August 23rd.