Related Articles
Excited about extra-fast web browsing on your brand-new Samsung Galaxy S3? We certainly were — but Samsung has backtracked today, admitting that the S3 won’t support DC-HSPA after all.
Samsung contacted CNET to sheepishly inform us that the S3 won’t in fact support 42Mbps DC-HSPA here in the UK, despite telling us that it would just yesterday. Samsung has apologised for getting the specs of its own phone wrong.
Yesterday we asked Samsung whether the British model of the S3 would support dual-channel HSPA, the next step up in mobile data speed after 3G. Imagine our joy when Samsung told us the S3 would indeed support DC-HSPA for data speeds of up to 42Mbps. But now the Korean company has admitted that only the LTE version of the phone will support DC-HSPA — and wouldn’t you know it, the LTE model won’t be sold here in Britain.
LTE is an even faster data connection technology, heavily marketed in the US as 4G. We’re moving towards creating a 4G network in this country, but we’re still a long way behind the US and other countries. As a result, the US gets 4G phones that we don’t, as well as 4G versions of phones that are stuck with 3G on this side of the pond.
Which is all very well, but can lead to confusion — and not just among consumers, either, judging by today’s debacle.
The S3 is a quad-core powerhouse, but without DC-HSPA it won’t necessarily be the fastest phone on the block. The Nokia Lumia 900, for example, does support DC-HSPA and could potentially outpace the S3 at browsing and streaming. But actual performance will vary depending on the strength of the signal and which network you’re on. Only O2 has launched 42Mbps DC-HSPA over here, and only in major cities.
The S3 hits shops on 30 May. Now DC-HSPA has been cruelly snatched away, have you soured on the S3, or are you still going to bag yourself one? If Samsung can’t keep track of its own phones, are HSPA and 4G and the rest too complicated for consumers to keep up with? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
