Google won’t give old Pixels the best 5G, even though it admits it could

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge

The software for the phones won't be updated to support C-band 5G in the US, despite the fact that the phones have the necessary hardware. The decision was announced in a post on the Pixel support forums, but no explanation has been given. The 6 and 6 Pro, with C-band, are the latest phones from the company, but not the older phones.

The company does not have any plans to support C-band operation in the US, despite the fact that the earlier Pixel models have C-band capable hardware and are enabled for operation in certain countries.

This news is not good. The C-band network was faster than the other 5G services provided by the company. C-band is more viable for more customers because it has more range. These relatively recent phones, seemingly arbitrarily, can't use it in the US because they are not part of the 5G network. The FCC has approved the use of C-band in the Pixel 5, a flagship phone that is only one generation old.

T-Mobile's current 5G network doesn't use C-band, but it will introduce some late next year. During the 5G debacle, the company loved pointing this out.

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An email was sent from The Verge asking why C-band is supported in some countries but not others. The company says that the phones will still be able to use whatever 5G capabilities they had at launch.

As always, this serves as a reminder to not buy something based on features it may or may not get in a future software update. The lack of C-band on the phone could be a problem in the future, but we mention in our review that it could be added by Google. It seems like the future is for customers with phones that are supported by the company. The company doesn't seem interested in including US customers that don't have the latest and greatest devices.