OnePlus 10 Pro is now on Verizon 5G - but is it the one you want?

The new OnePlus 10 Pro 5G smartphone recently went on sale in the United States and now has official certification to work on Verizon’s 5G network. Up until now, the device was exclusive to T-Mobile in the US.

Under Verizon’s 5G network, you can expect fast speeds for uploading pictures and videos, even in places with low bandwidth. It can also mean, depending on 5G coverage in your area, a more stable connection and fewer random drops in quality

However, it appears that the phone will not be able to take full advantage of Verizon’s two 5G standards. A Verizon representative told TechRadar that the smartphone does not support the mmWave spectrum, only the C-Band.

Lightning-fast speeds

According to Verizon, the C-Band is their mid-tier spectrum with speeds up to a gigabit and it’s available across a wider geographical area. The frequency can even penetrate buildings so you never lose those impressive speeds inside a building or tunnel.

The mmWave (millimeter wave) spectrum is even faster as it has frequencies between 28 and 39GHz with almost no lag. But the signal doesn’t go very far and it can’t enter buildings like lower frequencies.

Think of the C-Band as the Goldilocks standard in that it’s just right. It has fast enough speeds with a much wider range. Plus, this loss won’t really affect a lot of people as a report from 2021 by Opensignal revealed that only 0.5 percent of Verizon customers utilize mmWave.

Why mmWave isn’t supported could be because of hardware limitations. The 10 Pro runs on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset and up to 12GB of RAM. You’d expect the 10 Pro to have high-performance benchmarks, but it really doesn’t.

It’s actually slower than its predecessor, the OnePlus 9. In exchange, the 10 Pro is better optimized for AI and battery so the power needed for the mmWave was possibly throttled for other usage.

Supporting programs

Alongside the 5G certification, the OnePlus 10 Pro is also a part of Verizon’s Bring Your Own Device program. If you bought the phone from a different retailer or T-Mobile, you use this program to switch carriers. There, you select which phone plan you’d like.

And if you sign up for the unlimited plan, you’ll get a $500 gift card.

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