MediaTek has finally revealed its first mmWave-compatible 5G modem. Though the technology is most popular here in the 'States (where it's also kinda useless), carriers continue to champion its incredible speeds while conveniently overlooking its many limitations. But soon, you'll be able to enjoy losing that super-fast connection when you cross the street on a MediaTek phone, too.

I poke fun, but the advantages of mmWave really are overstated, especially in this pandemic era. One of the few genuine benefits is in places like massive auditoriums or stadiums where low-band congestion can be an issue due to the sheer volume of phones. The added frequencies, limited range, and high directionality are outright bonuses there, even if it still won't help you much at home.

The new M80 modem supports the aforementioned mmWave 5G, and it's also compatible with both standalone and non-standalone 5G, sports peak downlink rates of 7.67Gbps and uplink of 3.76Gbps, as well as now-expected technologies like dual 5G SIM, Dual 5G NSA and SA, DSS, and dual VoNR, plus the expected sub-6 connectivity for those more useful avenues of 5G. It also supports carrier aggregation on 5G, including mixed duplex, though support does vary based on frequency: sub-6 5G is "more than two" while mmWave can do up to 8CC. On LTE, you can expect Cat-19 speeds on download, and up to 5CC.

There are also abstractly described power-saving features like MediaTek's Ultra Save, Dynamic Bandwidth Part, and Connected Mode DRX, all claiming their own individual improvements based on environment and use.

This is a substantial step up from the M70 modem, which was built into MediaTek's first integrated 5G chipset (also a world's first) back in 2019, and merely supported sub-6 5G standards at slower max speeds.

On paper, this isn't quite up to the standards of Qualcomm's latest X60 modem, and even last year's X55 beats it in some regards, like LTE speeds. MediaTek also hasn't provided us with quite the level of detail that Qualcomm usually does in its announcements, which doesn't do the company any benefits. We should also point out: Qualcomm also provides an end-to-end 5G solution for customers, including things like antenna design, RF transceivers, and other controllers, which MediaTek hasn't mentioned, and that difference could be important for customers (i.e., smartphone makers).

Still, mmWave is a hurdle for MediaTek to clear if it wants to enter the premium segment in the US and try to topple our Qualcomm monopoly. Based on specs, the M80 is a contender and could do well paired with the right chipset.

This is the part where I'd say "but," and there are a few worth mentioning. For one, its future in phones is a little nebulous. At a launch event earlier this year, the company told us the product was primarily destined for things like hotspots, IoT, and external 5G modems, though we were explicitly told that phones were also on the table. That may sound a little odd, but if I had to guess, I think we'll see an M80-derived modem land in a future chipset. And that's the other catch: MediaTek tells us it isn't meant to be paired with its current chipset lineup, so we'll have a wait ahead of us before it lands in any consumer-facing hardware. The chip also won't be sampled until an undefined time "later this year."

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