GoWireless

Nope, not really.  The EARFCN may give a clue as to carrier bandwidth, but it is not definite.

 

AJ

Ok. I was hoping one of the engineering screens would show this but so far I haven't found anything.

Any way I can tell the BW I am connected to?

I am using SignalCheckPro on a Nexus 5X.

Looks like the pink lady is joining the game also: https://www.reddit.com/r/tmobile/comments/47u1fz/spectrum_swap_with_big_yellow_sprint_pcs

No, as far as I know, firmware updates were not distributed, were not necessary.  The hardware always was capable of carrier bandwidths other than 5 MHz FDD.  It just was not tested and authorized for those other bandwidths -- because they were not expected to be used.
 
FCC authorized handsets contain latent capabilities out the wazoo.  Remember the Nexus 4 from three years ago?  It was supposed to be a GSM/W-CDMA only handset, but band 4 LTE worked, though it was not tested and authorized.
 
AJ

No, those early single band LTE devices that seemed limited to 5 MHz FDD always were capable of at least 10 MHz FDD.  They just were not tested and authorized for other LTE carrier bandwidths.  Since then, all have received Class II Permissive Change filings in the FCC OET database.

 

AJ

Oh, OK. So, I would assume that this would have necessitated a firmware update at some point in order to enable and Sprint has had those released to the affected handsets by now, correct?

Is the thinking here to expand the G block into the C block but without necessarily setting up another 5Mhz carrier somewhere else in the PCS band?

I ask this becuase early on Sprint sold some 5MHz BW only LTE devices. Without a 5Mhz carrier somewhere in the PCS band those devices will be SOL.

Unless carriers want to pay for custom builds of the phone, mass-manufacturing typically makes it cheaper just to support all bands.

 

I'd expect the model numbers to be purely software / quality control differences.

That's not exactly what I was referring to. What I mean is that Samsung also usually sells an "officially unlocked" version of their flagship. This variant typically supports AT&T and T-Mobile (albeit sometimes only partially). What I am wondering is if they will sell an unlocked variant of the S7 that could be used on all four (or maybe just 3) carriers that you could get directly from Samsung or their resellers.

Another interesting question is whether they will decide to sell an officially unlocked US variant, and if so, what bands would such a device support?

Thanks for the explanation about the difference between CSIM and USIM.

If this phone has a CSIM, does that mean that if I had multiple CSIM phones I could switch between them at will just by swapping the SIMs without having to contact Sprint?

...and they haven't openly spited Google recently. 

...

Man I wish these filings would reveal international LTE band support. 

Yeah, hopefully Google will list those on Tuesday though.

Thanks for the info.

Based on the leaks/rumors so far my concerns with this device is that the bezels are a bit bigger than I would have hoped and that the available memory options supposedly are only 16 or 32 GB which could be an issue given that Nexus devices usually don't come with an SD card slot.

You guys mind looking up the values for the A1633/4 models too?

My gut feel tells me that the reason they split out to two models was due to component yield and availability and once they have enough of the AT&T stock built up they will use those for the "SIM-FREE" variant that should come out in a few months.

Not the first time Apple accidentally omitted band support in their pages.  The FCC docs show the support is there.

It is also shown on the main 6s specs page.

They'll probably figure out at some point that it's missing from the LTE page and add it. They already made a change recently on the LTE support page... They took out the CDMA/GSM designations on the left when they realized that both models do CDMA.

I really wish Apple would stop with this confusing multi-variant nonsense.

If you look at the iPhone LTE breakdown ( http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE ) you'll see that the AT&T variant is going to also be sold by US Cellular and C-Spire, meaning it will do CDMA.

So again, we end up with two US iPhone variants... one for 3 national carriers and one for 1 national carrier with the latter supporting all of the former's bands and technologies, plus one or two more bands. It's just that this year AT&T is the odd one out rather than Sprint (last year's model).

I am assuming in a couple of months when Apple releases the officially SIM-Free version, it might very well end up being the AT&T one.

Any idea why Apple is doing this?

With respect to B12, I think there was some sort of interim deadline which past by on 7/31 and TV stations which didn't submit a plan for moving off of Ch. 51 or implementing concurrent operations by that date will probably end up waiting a while before they relocate. Also, I believe in areas where channel 51 exists, the FCC extended the buildout deadline past the already-extended Dec 2016 deadline, so those owning 700A licenses in those areas are now in no rush to build out. So, as much as It would be nice to see T-Mobile deploy that spectrum under some sort of deal with Sprint, I think there's a good chance we might not see that take place for a while.

The big question with respect to 700A are what will happen to the huge swaths of licenses owned by Continuum and AB (formerly Cox), many of which are set to expire in just 15 months if not build out to the minimum 35% geographical coverage.

Looking at the overall device dimensions in the FCC filings, one can rather positively deduce a screen size of 5.5". That's too bad. Not sure why companies insist on making these giant phones nowadays. You'd think after Moto's experience with the Nexus 6 they'd know better. Sigh.

I guess the Nexus 5 2015 is pretty much the only hope left for a decently-sized Android flagship device for the rest of the year.

Overall size will be about halfway in between the 2014 Moto X and the Nexus 6, so take that into consideration...

 

AJ

Yeah, I'm afraid they might increase the screen size to 5.5" which if true then I would pass on this device. I won't buy a device that I can't use with one hand. This would be too bad because I find the current size of the X to be pretty good (albeit at the top of the range size-wise for single handed use phones).

No, there really is not any reason for this Sprint "UC1" variant to have included band 29 for supplemental downlink carrier aggregation on AT&T.  That capability is already covered on the aforementioned "UC2" variant, which will be the unlocked version, the T-Mobile variant, and/or the AT&T/T-Mobile omnibus variant.

 

AT&T handset LTE band future proofing is a hot mess right now.  Some AT&T handsets include bands 29/30, some include only one or the other, and some include neither.  The only consistency is inconsistency.  A Sprint variant has no need to get mixed up in that muddle.

 

AJ

I'm hoping they'll sell the UC1 variant unlocked too, like the Nexus 6.

Looks very nice!

I am looking forward to this device as well as the upcoming Nexus 5 2015 would should have similar multi-band support.

As you indicated, I wish that the C1 variant would have included support for band 29 which will be an important CA band for AT&T.

Thanks for a great article, as always.

I think personally, I am going to wait and see what the LG G4 will look like before I decide which of this year's flagships I might get. While I like the new look of the S6, the lack of expandable storage and the indications of possibly so-so reception are significant disadvantages.

Looks like the FCC approvals for the GS6 and One M9 just came out... hint hint S4GRU ;-)

I really hope they include the ipad mini 2. I bought one from best buy when the mini 3 came out, and used the trade in promotion to get one almost free. But of course it wont activate on sprint as its an "ATT" model, but all cellular mini 2's were including band 26/band 25 iirc. It reads the sim and shows LTE for a small time, but goes into a locked mode of sorts until a non sprint sim is in. Fingers crossed!

I find it insane that Sprint doesn't support this already since, unlike the iPhone for example, beginning with the mini 2 and the Air, all US carriers have carried the same iPad variant. It's almost like Sprint doesn't want your business. I don't get it.

Kudos to Motorola for being the first to release a true, single-SKU device for North America. I hope other manufacturers follow suit.

I must say that I really like the Samsung Alpha/Note 4 design concept. Feels nice in the hand. Gone is that cheap plasticky feel of devices past. Next hopefully Samsung will pick up their RF engineering to the next level too. Apple and Motorola have proven it's an achievable goal, even with having to contend with a plethora of multiple band support.

Is Sprint supposed to be stocking N6s for display at stores at some point? I stopped by a Sprint store today and didn't see any.

It can always be done on Google Hangouts over WiFi.

Do you know what outgoing number shows up on caller ID when you do this? Can you recive incoming calls or texts to your Sprint number via this method?