Crucial test uncovers if it's time to upgrade your Samsung Galaxy phone
We all know that our phones get slightly longer in the tooth the longer we use them, but there's one way to test your phone's potential that you might not have thought of.
5G connectivity has been around for a fair while now, and while you might be tempted to think that it works the exact same way in every phone, that's not quite true.
There are loads of different ways for phone makers to get things working in their internal designs, and these tiny tweaks can have surprising effects on the speed of a 5G connection when the phone has been built.
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Running internet speed tests has long involved heading to Speedtest.net, and the creators of that website, Ookla, recently published some research into how fast different phones can download files over 5G.
It doesn't specify which 5G network it's using, but tested a range of phones in the same conditions to see how they compared, and the results are surprisingly varied.
The results showed, in particular, that the Samsung Galaxy S24 range of phones is the fastest it could find, managing to reach average download speeds of 157Mbps when connected to 5G in the UK.
The iPhone 15 range, by comparison, was slightly further behind with an average speed of 138Mbps.
The next two phones were the Samsung Galaxy S23 and S22 lineup, with very similar results just below those of the iPhone 15, so there's clearly been a little bit of a breakthrough with the Samsung Galaxy S24.
Interestingly, though, Ookla's tests in different regions had this order of results changing a little bit, with the iPhone 15 sometimes coming out on top instead.
This is a little complicated to explain, but there are doubtless networking reasons why some phones would perform a little better in one region than in another.
So, if you're on the lookout for a new phone, or if you have an older Samsung Galaxy model from a few years back, this might have delivered you a useful new reason to upgrade.
After all, half the point of getting a new phone is for everything you do on it to feel really fast and snappy again, and the faster your 5G connection runs the more breakneck your speeds will be.
Those who want to maximize this should therefore think about sticking with Samsung for their next phone, with the flagship Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra being the pick of the bunch.
That said, it's also a supremely expensive phone, so probably won't be for everyone, with the standard Galaxy S24 also offering some really great specs and new AI features at a substantially lower price.