Telstra Galaxy S9 capable of speeds up to 1.2Gbps

Customers choosing Telstra to buy the new Samsung Galaxy S9 (and S9+) could find an HD movie on their phones in about 10-seconds.

Telstra has announced that the new Samsung handsets will be the first to support Cat.18 4G LTE, a variation on regular, old 4G which can attain speeds up to 1.2Gbps. To put that in context, the fastest widely available NBN plan is 100Mbps, making Cat.18 LTE up to 12-times faster. It achieves the speeds by aggregating six carrier components in a single stream. 

This statement comes with a number of caveats though. As we’ve come to expect from mobile technologies, attain the theoretical maximum speed is all but impossible outside of isolated testing labs. You’d have to climb the transmission tower, on the night of a full moon, with the wind blowing south-west and pray to the gods of wireless radio waves to hope to see 1.2Gbps on your Samsung smartphone. In fact, Telstra itself claims the speeds of Cat.18 devices on the 4GX will achieve speeds of between 5 - 300Mbps. 

That said, it should still result in a much faster data experience compared with other phones in market, even the new Apple iPhone X with it’s lowly Cat.12 capabilities and its paltry 600Mbps maximum download speeds. 

S9: more than a speed demon?

The Galaxy S9 and S9+ will lead the Samsung range of phones in 2018, and look to be similar to the last year’s S8, but will a number of refinements and enhancements. But as WhistleOut’s Alex Choros writes after playing with the new S9, “The Galaxy S9 will immediately feel familiar to anyone who's used the Galaxy S8; the phones are almost identical in terms of build, but why fix what's not broken?”

Key to the S9 story is a leap forward in camera technology, where Samsung engineers have managed to squeeze a variable aperture lens into a smartphone. This should give the new phones a serious leg-up on its competitors, especially when shooting photos and video in low-light. 

Both the S9 and S9+ have nice, big batteries inside, so we’re hoping that they can keep the screens on for longer than a single day. Especially when Samsung is asking for at least $1,199 for one of these new phones.

Pre-orders through Telstra, Optus, Virgin Mobile, Woolworths Mobile and Vodafone begin on February 27.

Joseph Hanlon

Editorial Director | X | LinkedIn

Joe Hanlon has been immersed in mobile phones, plans and the internet for over a decade, having written for publications like CNET, Techradar, Gizmodo and Lifehacker. He steers the editorial ship and makes sure that we are always serving up the most useful guides and recommendations. If you ever bump into Joe on the street, don't be afraid to ask for a phone recommendation. It's embarrassing how much he enjoys talking about this stuff. He also loves listening to podcasts, so feel free to email Joe with recommendations.

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