【2006 Archives】

We now006 Archivesdocumented proof that the Samsung Galaxy S8 is more than just fast -- it's like, gigabit fast.

T-Mobile dropped a video showing the brand new Samsung flagship being put through its paces on the carrier's LTE network in its Bellevue, Washington research lab.

The phone is able to hit some impressive download speeds, flirting with the gigabit barrier.

OK, there's a big caveat here: the test was conducted under lab-controlled conditions. You'll never have a network connection like that out in the real world -- but the potential for that level of speed is still tantalizing.

A good deal of that speed is thanks to the S8's Snapdragon 835 chip, which has a X16 Gigabit-class LTE modem built to run at a gigabit pace. That means the S8 could be in the running for the fastest phone on the market. The S8 is also going to be among the first phones to support the LTE-U spectrum, according to Android Authority, which should put the phone in prime position once carriers start rolling out Gigabit LTE networks.

Chinese phone maker ZTE announced a device capable of gigabit speeds back in February called, unoriginally, Gigabit Phone, but we still haven't seen that in action.

The speed test wasn't the only promo T-Mobile posted in the aftermath of the S8's launch -- the Uncarrier also released a ridiculous promo video of the S8 being unboxed in shark-infested waters because, you know, it's EXTREME like that.

There's no word on the exact speed metrics the diver in that video was able to access as he tried to download a web guide on how to distract bloodthirsty sharks, but we're guessing it wasn't quite a gigabit.

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