T-Mobile's iPhone 5 gets official: we go hands-on

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"><div class="image-container" dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"> <img alt="T-Mobile's iPhone 5 gets official: we go hands-on" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/03/iphone5tmo.jpg" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> Before today, using an iPhone on T-Mobile's network meant a compromise on speed: unlocked handsets would get service, but only on EDGE. Thanks to spectrum refarming efforts that started last fall, the operator has been able to suddenly "turn on" 4G (the HSPA+ kind) for that grey market segment. But with Apple now bringing the iPhone 5 <em>officially</em> to T-Mobile's newly launched LTE lineup, the UnCarrier's subscriber base no longer has to trade down.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> Being the last of the major US carriers to be granted access to the Cupertino cult, T-Mobile trotted out the device with a decent amount of fanfare. Well, at least as much as can be mustered for a six month-old device. And, what can we say, an iPhone is an iPhone. Aesthetically, it's the same handset that's already available from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and a handful of regional carriers. That means a large swath of fortified glass on the front and a sheet of lovely metal on the rear. When it launches on April 12th with a $99 down payment, it'll be able to hop on T-Mobile's burgeoning LTE network on the AWS band. But, should that not be active in your hometown, it'll fallback to big-magenta's AWS-powered HSPA+ 42Mbps network.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> <img alt="Gallery Image" height="425" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/03/dsc06453-1364317047.jpg" width="640" /><img alt="Gallery Image" height="425" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/03/dsc06455.jpg" width="640" /><img alt="Gallery Image" height="425" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/03/dsc06456.jpg" width="640" /><img alt="Gallery Image" height="425" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/03/dsc06457.jpg" width="640" /><img alt="Gallery Image" height="425" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/03/dsc06461.jpg" width="640" /><img alt="Gallery Image" height="425" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/03/dsc06463.jpg" width="640" /><img alt="Gallery Image" height="425" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/03/dsc06465.jpg" width="640" /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> The biggest change to the iPhone 5 for T-Mo is the addition of HD Voice capabilities. We were able to give the feature a quick try and the results were pretty clear and lacked the tinniness often associated with cellphone calls. That being said, in the noisy event hall it was a little tough to get a full taste of the experience and there was a slight echo on the receiving end. Of course, you'll need two devices with HD Voice to take advantage and that's still a pretty small selection of handsets on the market at the moment.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> The iPhone did shine on T-Mobile's uncongested LTE network. We ran Speed Test on two separate devices and pulled down an average of about 20Mbps with peak speeds of 28Mbps. Upload speeds were a pretty consistent 8Mbps and ping times stayed under 40ms. By comparison, the Verizon version of the iPhone 5 we had on hand only pulled down about 4Mbps, upload speeds reached 3.5Mbps and ping times were consistently north of 60ms. Of course, T-Mobile can brag about all their unused bandwidth, but as more devices start hopping on its LTE highway, we'd expect to see some dip in throughput.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> The speed advantages were really clear when attempting a FaceTime call. The Carly-endorsed model produced crisp and clear results when reaching out a rep stationed in Cupertino with only minimal artifacts or pixelization.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"> Otherwise, though, this is the same phone you've come to love (or, maybe hate). The screen is as beautiful as ever and the OS as quick as we've come to expect from a relatively unmolested iPhone. (Once you've spent a few months updating apps and loading up media though, all bets are off.) The only hint of branding besides Apple is the tiny T-Mobile in the top left-hand corner of the screen. And, honestly, we wouldn't have it any other way.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;"><img alt="Gallery Image" height="424" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/03/dsc06469-1364317061.jpg" width="640" /></div></div>

T-Mobile's iPhone 5 gets official: we go hands-on

Before today, using an iPhone on T-Mobile's network meant a compromise on speed: unlocked handsets would get service, but only on ED...

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