, T-Mobile lit up its new 600MHz network in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Over the next year, 600MHz is going to make T-Mobile’s network way better, but right now, no phone on sale can use the frequency.
So to demonstrate the new network, T-Mobile had to use an unreleased device that will be compatible with its new network. T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray already confirmed that Samsung and LG will both have 600MHz-compatible devices on sale by the end of the year, and based on highly scientific forensic analysis of the video clip, all signs point to an LG device.
T-Mobile pulled the video from YouTube and re-uploaded with a blurred-out phone, since the original version revealed the phone number of a T-Mobile executive. A screenshot taken before the call is above for your careful examination, however.
Based on the size of the device, lack of physical buttons, and user interface visible on the phone, the best guess is that it’s the upcoming LG V30. There’s only a handful of upcoming Android devices that could even remotely be compatible: the LG V30, Samsung Galaxy Note 8, Pixel XL 2, and possibly the Pixel 2 (an initial FCC filing didn’t show compatibility with 600MHz, but that could be a software issue that’s resolved in the future).
The aspect ratio doesn’t look right for the Pixel 2 or Pixel 2 XL, based on previous leaks we’ve seen of those phones, as they’re rumored to retain a big bezel top and bottom. Those bezels plus the screen you can see in the screenshot would make a device that’s way too tall.
So, we’re left with the Galaxy Note 8 or LG V30. Samsung’s skinned version of Android has very different-looking dialer to what you can see in the video, so unless the device is running a stock testing version of Android (very possible!) we’d guess it’s the LG V30, which is set to be released in a few weeks.
Still, that doesn’t tell us much about the phone, apart from that it a) exists and b) has a screen, which is something we probably would’ve guessed anyways. Probably the most revealing thing about this video is how T-Mobile successfully disguised the device with pink paper. Sometimes, old-school is best.
