Qualcomm shares study showing Androids beat iPhone 16e on 5G
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
TL;DR A Qualcomm-commissioned report has found that Apple's C1 modem lags behind Qualcomm's last two flagship modems.
The report found that two Android phones with Qualcomm modems consistently outperformed the iPhone 16e and its custom modem.
The Android phones opened the gap to the iPhone 16e as they moved away from the cell towers.
Apple launched the iPhone 16e earlier this year, and this is a landmark release as it includes the company's first cellular modem. We've already seen reports about its performance, and now a Qualcomm-commissioned study has revealed some (unsurprising) results.
Cellular Insights posted a report comparing two Qualcomm-powered Android phones to the iPhone 16e and its Apple C1 modem. The company tested these phones in New York City in various real-world environments while connected to T-Mobile's sub-6GHz network. It added that these tests were conducted in 'near-, far-, and mid-cell' conditions.
One of these Android phones was described as a January 2025 flagship with the Snapdragon X80 modem and a $799 price tag. Meanwhile, the other phone was described as a January 2024 flagship with a slightly older Snapdragon X75 modem and a $619 price tag. We're guessing that the former is the Samsung Galaxy S25. Based on the release date, it seems like the latter device is a Galaxy S24.
So which one was better?
The report found that the Android phones consistently beat the iPhone 16e in all situations. It specifically said that the Android phones were 34.3% to 35.2% faster on average than the Apple device in terms of download speeds. There was a huge advantage in terms of average upload speeds, as the Android devices were a claimed 81.4% to 91% faster.
Cellular Insights reported that the iPhone 16e narrowed the gap to the Android phones in near-cell conditions, but that the Android devices stretched their lead as they moved to mid-cell and far-cell conditions. It suggested that this disparity was due to the Qualcomm modems supporting downlink carrier aggregation and uplink carrier aggregation (ULCA) features, while the Apple C1 seemed 'constrained on the downlink and lacks observable ULCA support.'
So what was the key takeaway? Here's what the company had to say:
The Android A and B smartphones powered by Qualcomm modems deliver measurably superior performance in real-world 5G standalone environments. While the iPhone 16e powered by Apple C1 performs adequately under optimal RF and network load conditions, it lags significantly in edge cases—the very scenarios where next-generation modems are expected to excel.
You'll want to take these results with a healthy dose of salt as Qualcomm commissioned the study after all. Nevertheless, it's been the undisputed leader in the cellular modem space for over a decade now, and this is simply Apple's first modem. So it's not a surprise to see Qualcomm's modems delivering faster speeds. However, it does suggest that you're better off with a premium Android phone if you're constantly in areas with less-than-ideal coverage, particularly on T-Mobile.
The study also comes after Ookla reported that the iPhone 16e offered 'better worst-case speeds' than the iPhone 16, but that the latter device offered higher top-end speeds. It's worth noting that the iPhone 16 uses a less capable Snapdragon X72 modem than contemporary Android phones anyway.
In any event, Apple doesn't appear to be standing still on the modem front. An apparent Apple modem roadmap suggests that the company's 2026 release will offer mmWave support and improved carrier aggregation technologies ahead of a potential Qualcomm-rivaling modem in 2027.
Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at
Email our staff at news@androidauthority.com . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
25 minutes ago
- Forbes
Forbes Daily: Supreme Court Gives A Boost To Oil And Gas Billionaires
J.K. Rowling brought magic to multiple generations with her wizarding world—and it's made her a billionaire, again, despite plenty of recent controversy. The Harry Potter author is now worth $1.2 billion, according to Forbes estimates, after previously falling off the Billionaires List in 2012 as a result of charitable giving. That's in spite of the fact that Rowling has placed herself at the center of a culture war, frequently posting anti-transgender rhetoric on social media. Since 2020, she has earned more than $80 million per year from the sales of her books and the vast litany of Potterverse brand extensions. The staying power of the franchise is only set to continue, with a new HBO Max series adaptation of the books going into production this summer. President Donald Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs will stay in effect for now, a federal appeals court ruled, despite a Wednesday ruling from the Court of International Trade that they were unlawful, plus a second, similar ruling from a federal court Thursday. But if an appeals court or the Supreme Court, where the case is likely to end up, ultimately sides with the international court and says they're unlawful, the Trump Administration will have to refund any tariffs collected. MORE: Nvidia briefly became the world's most valuable company again Thursday after its latest earnings report, surpassing Microsoft, before falling back into No. 2. The AI chip giant's stock surged post-earnings and after the international trade court's tariff ruling, helping lift the broader market, before indexes ended the day at more modest gains. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said trade talks between China and the U.S. have stalled and a direct call between the two countries' presidents may be needed to close a deal, leading U.S. stock futures to drop slightly in early trading on Friday. After their meeting in Geneva earlier this month, U.S. and Chinese officials announced they would significantly cut back tariffs placed on each other's goods for at least 90 days, while both sides work on a trade agreement. Despite President Trump repeatedly attacking Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, the pair met Thursday at Trump's request—Powell's first meeting with a sitting president since May 2022. Trump has expressed frustration with the Fed's hesitation to lower interest rates, but Powell was insistent that the Fed would determine monetary policy based on economic data, according to a statement from the central bank. The SEC dropped a lawsuit against Binance on Thursday, days after the crypto exchange began listing a stablecoin created by World Liberty Financial, one of President Donald Trump's blockchain ventures. Binance admitted in a November 2023 plea deal to anti-money laundering and sanctions violations, agreeing to pay $4 billion, and it's not the only Trump crypto partner to have benefited personally from his administration. The Supreme Court gave a boost to oil and gas companies as it sided Thursday with a railway company that argued an environmental review of a planned construction project in Utah was too broad. Dozens of energy billionaires stand to benefit, like Anschutz Exploration Corporation leader Philip Anschutz and Energy Transfer LP founders Kelcy Warren and Ray Davis, who are worth $16.9 billion, $7.2 billion and $3.7 billion, respectively. As AI chatbots become more trusted with high-stakes jobs like helping to diagnose medical patients or screening loan applications, they're also making more mistakes,—which means assessing a model's performance is more crucial than ever. The once-buzzy data-labeling startup Snorkel AI is shifting gears to help enterprises create evaluation systems and datasets to test their AI models, raising $100 million at a $1.3 billion valuation. Despite repeated promises of an imminent launch, President Donald Trump's Gold Card visa—which would give wealthy investors U.S. residency and an expedited path to citizenship—would require Congress to change immigration laws, a process that could take months or years. And furthermore, while Trump has suggested the administration could raise trillions selling the cards, the math just doesn't add up, according to one expert: To afford the visa, someone would have to be worth over $100 million, and there are fewer than 30,000 centimillionaires in the entire world, more than a third of whom are American. A federal judge will indefinitely block the Trump Administration's ban on Harvard University's enrollment of foreign students, amid the ongoing feud between the university and federal government. In a shift from the Department of Homeland Security's initial announcement, which stated the ban would take effect immediately, the administration told Harvard ahead of the court hearing that it had 30 days to show why the school should not be barred from enrolling international students. Real Madrid forward Vinícius Forbes' latest ranking of the World's Most Valuable Soccer Teams, Spain's Real Madrid once again takes the crown, worth an estimated $6.75 billion after becoming the first soccer team to cross $1 billion in annual revenue during the 2023-24 season. Together, the 30 most valuable soccer teams are worth more than $72 billion, or an average of $2.4 billion, up 5% from last year. Michigan Potash & Salt founder Ted Pagano jamel toppin for forbes Michigan is sitting on a motherlode of potash, a mineral which is the main ingredient in agricultural fertilizer. The U.S. uses 5.3 million tons annually and imports 95% of it, mostly from Canada. Ted Pagano's Michigan Potash & Salt Company is on the cusp of closing on $1.8 billion of financing for a new mine, including a $1.3 billion loan from the Department of Energy and $500 million in equity being arranged by JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs. If all goes well, the mine will be churning out 1 million tons per year of potash (worth $350 million) and 1.3 million tons of salt (worth $80 million) by the end of the decade. With a resource base proven to be 130 million tons, the company could keep that up for a century or more—and make Pagano, who owns 65%, very rich. Even now his stake is worth at least $300 million. To extract the potash, Pagano will use a form of 'in-situ,' or solution mining. He'll drill 8,000-foot-deep wells in pairs. One is the injection well, down which Michigan Potash will send hot water to dissolve potash and salt in place. The second is the production well; the solution travels up that well to the processing plant for separation and drying. The water is reclaimed, heated and sent back down the hole. From the surface the mine will hardly be noticeable and should be eligible for green tax credits. 'There's no hair on this project that we're ashamed of,' says chief operating officer Aric Glasser. In all, Forbes estimates that costs should come to about $140 per ton; potash sells for about $350 a ton today. And agricultural giant ADM has already agreed to buy nearly all of Pagano's yearly potash production. WHY IT MATTERS 'This story shows how even in a giant, oligopoly-controlled industry like fertilizer, an individual entrepreneur like Ted Pagano—in the right place at the right time—can generate huge value for himself and for the country,' says Forbes senior editor Christopher Helman. 'This matters now because there are many other critical minerals of which the U.S. needs to develop secure domestic supplies. Hopefully Pagano's story can inspire more entrepreneurs to take on the challenge.' MORE The $800 Million Rare Earths Portfolio Of Australia's Richest Woman References to DEI in the corporate reports of top companies took a sharp dive this year, according to analysis by Gravity Research. As President Donald Trump has waged a war on DEI, many companies have dropped or reframed their diversity initiatives: 72%: The drop in references to diversity, including 'DEI' and 'racial diversity,' in the reports of major corporations between 2024 and 2025, per the study 87%: The increase in usage of the word 'belonging' between 2023 and 2024 as a 'safer' alternative to DEI, though mentions of the word then declined 47% between 2024 and 2025 'Speaks volumes to the current political environment': said Joanna Piacenza, vice president of thought leadership at Gravity Research No matter the reason, if you were seeking a promotion that didn't pan out, you can still create your own opportunities for leadership development in your current role. Look at previous performance reviews to figure out what skills you need to work on, and collaborate with your manager to restructure your role for stretch assignments. And if you're looking for an opportunity to manage people, start by managing a project or asking your boss if you can take something off their plate. Scientists have created a 'smart' dental floss that doesn't just clean your teeth, but also gauges what about your health? A. Blood pressure B. Presence of cavities C. Stress levels D. Recent drug use Check your answer. Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire and Chris Dobstaff.
Bloomberg
31 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Payment Firm Stripe in Early Talks With Banks About Stablecoins
Stripe Inc. has held early discussions with banks about their potential use of stablecoins, the latest sign that the digital assets are playing an increasingly central role in global money movement. The talks come as Stripe has debuted a number of products related to stablecoins in recent months, including a platform allowing fintechs to quickly start their own stablecoin-linked card programs for customers, according to John Collison, the co-founder and president of the payments giant. There are currently about $243 billion of stablecoins — digital assets designed to maintain a constant value against a currency like the dollar — in circulation.
News24
34 minutes ago
- News24
Absa names new leaders for its retail and business banking units
Be among those who shape the future with knowledge. Uncover exclusive stories that captivate your mind and heart with our FREE 14-day subscription trial. Dive into a world of inspiration, learning, and empowerment. You can only trial once. Start your FREE trial now
