We finally have some news about the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G Update! When the Samsung Galaxy S20 series was unveiled last February, I jumped into the upgrade train and pre-ordered the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra through SMART. Actually, I almost cancelled it when I read some news related to its 5G connectivity. As some of you may know, the S20 variants we have here are powered by Exynos 990 while the US market will receive Snapdragon powered phones. There are no issues with the Snapdragon-powered 5G, unlike the Exynos 990 counterpart.
Rumors have spread that Samsung hasn’t really tested the Exynos 990 phones with the Philippine telcos’ 5G networks. YouTuber JerryRigEverything’s tear down of the S20 Ultra made him question whether its 5G is real. One of the main reasons why I chose to upgrade with this phone is its 5G connectivity, and these news are sort of a dealbreaker to me.
A couple of days before the Philippine government imposed a lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I spoke with a Samsung Philippines executive about this dilemma. The executive didn’t give any assurances about the S20 Ultra getting 5G, but only mentioned that there will be a software update to activate it. It’s like the iPhone 5 software update I had in 2013 to have LTE connectivity instead of 3G. This was enough for me to hear so I pulled the trigger and got my S20 Ultra, two days before the lockdown.
Fast forward to the Samsung Unpacked event today where the new Samsung Galaxy Note20 series were unveiled, I noticed that the new Notes also have Exynos 990 with 5G variants. I asked another Samsung Philippines executive whether these are already working with PH 5G networks out of the box or they would need a software update. He said that there will be a software update to activate the Note20 series 5G connection.
Hearing this answer gave me hope for my S20 Ultra. I asked him if S20 Ultra users would also get software updates to activate 5G. His answer was yes and we will get it along with the Note20 series 5G updates. This answer was heard along with other members of the PH tech media in our online session with Samsung executives.
So despite of negative news, Samsung S20 Ultra owners will get 5G connectivity after all via software update. The question now is how soon we will get it. Hopefully, in a month or two as Globe and SMART are now offering the Note20 series as pre-orders. Unlike their S20 Ultra, SMART is promoting the Note20 as one of their 5G phones. Their 5G network was initially rolled out last July 30 and it’s super fast! So I’d like to think Samsung will make sure that both the S20 Ultra and Note20 5G and Note20 Ultra 5G will all have 5G software updates by then.
