Earlier this week, Google released an update that fixed the edge touch recognition issues on the Pixel 4a 5G. The February security patch also comes with T-Mobile Standalone (SA) 5G support for both the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5.
With the rollout of standalone architecture (SA), there is no need for 5G to operate and exist without LTE. This also means that signals can travel much further, and helps improve indoor/building penetration. When T-Mobile launched this network in August 2020, they promised that it will “immediately increase its 5G footprint by 30 percent.”
And true enough, in areas with SA support, T-Mobile’s engineers have seen an improvement of up to 40% in latency during testing. And this is only just the start of what Standalone 5G could do.
If you have either the Pixel 4a 5G or Pixel 5, you can check what NSA is in use by going to your Settings > About phone > SIM status > Mobile data network type.
The February security patch with SA 5G support has not yet been rolled out to all Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 devices in the US. The update is actually a separate build from T-Mobile/Sprint called RQ1C.210205.006. Make sure to check if the update is available on your device.
Source: 1