Galaxy S5 Download Booster Exclusive to T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular
Who wouldn't want to be able to leverage the power of both 4G LTE and Wi-Fi at once for faster downloads? Well, apparently AT&T, Sprint and Verizon aren't fans of the concept, as they've decided to omit the feature from the new Galaxy S5.
The good news is that Samsung confirmed to us that both T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular will offer the Download Booster function on its S5 devices. Download Booster is designed to let you tap LTE and Wi-Fi simultaneously, which Samsung claims will dramatically speed up downloads. We're talking an 80 to 90 percent improvement.
MORE: Samsung Galaxy S5: Full Review
So why do three out of the four big U.S. carriers refuse to support Download Booster? Perhaps they don't want their customers taxing their strained networks for huge files when that job could be offloaded to a home network or hotspot.
Meanwhile, T-Mobile lists Download Booster as among the Galaxy S5's top six features on its website, saying that it will assist with downloads. U.S. Cellular doesn't seem to list Download Booster on its S5 product page, but Samsung confirmed that it would be the second carrier to offer the perk.
It's not as if Galaxy S5 shoppers don't have anything else to be excited about. In our in-depth Galaxy S5 review, we praised the device for its bright and colorful 5.1-inch display, sharper camera and longer battery life. The design is also water resistant.
However, we'd love to see a Verizon-powered Galaxy S5 combine the speed of the provider's souped-up AWS network with Wi-Fi. After all, the carrier won both our New York and San Francisco 4G showdowns. Here's hoping AT&T, Sprint and Verizon eventually cave.
Copyright 2014 LAPTOP Magazine, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
