Robert Triggs / Android Authority
TL;DR
- China’s state-owned telecom supplier, China Cell, introduced the launch of its 5.5G community.
- 5.5G (or 5G Superior) networks provide improved knowledge speeds over the present 5G networks.
- OPPO’s 2024 flagship Discover X7 sequence telephones are reportedly the primary ones to assist 5GA networks.
Whilst we anticipate widespread, dependable 5G connectivity, China is leaping ahead with the following era of wi-fi know-how. In the present day, China Cell introduced the industrial launch of its 5.5G (additionally known as 5G-Superior or 5GA) community. And it appears we’d have already got the primary Android telephones able to reap the benefits of it.
First reported by GSMArena, OPPO’s Chief Product Officer, Pete Lau, shared a teaser with the Discover X7 Extremely telephone displaying “5GA” in its community standing. A Weibo publish backs this up, additional claiming that the usual Discover X7 may also achieve 5.5G functionality. This could make the Discover X7 sequence the world’s first telephones to assist 5.5G networks.
China Cell plans to cowl over 300 cities with its 5.5G community by the tip of the yr. They’ve already established demonstration areas across the nation, permitting Discover X7 house owners to expertise the velocity enhance firsthand.
However maintain on — what precisely is 5.5G?
5.5G is a reputation given to 5G-Superior (5GA) networks, which fall inside the 5G normal however ship vital velocity enhancements. 5G-Superior affords an enormous velocity enhance, with a possible of as much as 10Gbps downlink and 1Gbps uplink speeds.
Tech-savvy readers may keep in mind the same step ahead with 4G. 4G networks had been first launched round 2010, and some years later, a extra superior model of 4G networks known as 4G-Superior or 4G LTE was launched, with improved community speeds and latency.
Whereas 5G has discovered its place in our smartphones, it hasn’t but absolutely happy industries demanding super-fast uploads, near-zero lag, extra-tight safety, dependable efficiency, and low energy utilization. 5.5G goals to alter that, serving as an important bridge in the direction of the way forward for 6G by refining what 5G already does nicely.
Is 5.5G coming to the US?
Just like the Discover X7 Extremely itself, US shoppers aren’t more likely to get their fingers on 5.5G networks anytime quickly. Nonetheless, just a few months in the past, AT&T President Chris Sambar expressed pleasure for the appearance of 5.5G networks forward of 6G. Although it could be round 2025 earlier than industrial 5GA arrives stateside, the chatter is already beginning to construct.
The excellent news is that the Discover X7 Extremely makes use of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, which can also be discovered on different 2024 Android flagships, such because the Galaxy S24 Extremely and OnePlus 12. So, theoretically, these telephones ought to be suitable with 5GA networks after they lastly come to the US.
