Samsung has taken another step toward 6G, this time with an outdoor trial that hints at what the next generation of wireless could look like.
In a joint announcement on February 20, 2026, Samsung Electronics, KT Corporation, and Keysight Technologies confirmed they had successfully tested what’s known as eXtreme MIMO (X-MIMO) in the 7 GHz band. The test took place outdoors at Samsung’s R&D campus in Seoul, using a prototype 6G base station equipped with 256 digital antenna ports.
According to the companies, the setup achieved peak downlink speeds of up to 3 Gbps to a single test device.
That number stands out, especially considering that many real-world 5G users rarely see sustained speeds anywhere near 1 Gbps. While peak speeds in controlled trials don’t always reflect everyday performance, the results suggest Samsung is making steady progress in mid-band 6G research.
What makes this different?
The trial focused on the 7 GHz spectrum, which is being considered as a candidate band for 6G because it offers more bandwidth than traditional sub-6 GHz 5G frequencies, while still providing better range than millimeter wave.
The key technology under test, X-MIMO, pushes antenna density much further than current 5G massive MIMO systems. Samsung says the prototype packed roughly four times the antenna elements of typical 5G base stations, but without significantly increasing physical size.
In practical terms, that allows the base station to transmit multiple data streams simultaneously. During the trial, eight parallel data streams were sent from the 256-port system, boosting throughput while maintaining usable coverage.
Mid-band frequencies like 7 GHz are often described as a middle ground. They can handle more data than the 3.5 GHz bands commonly used in 5G, but they don’t suffer from the extreme range limitations of mmWave.
It’s important to keep the timeline in perspective. 6G standards are not finalized, and 3GPP releases that define much of the global mobile framework are expected to evolve gradually over the coming years.
That said, outdoor demonstrations like this move the conversation beyond theoretical modeling. Testing in real-world conditions, even controlled campus environments, provides data that can shape future infrastructure design.
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(Source: Samsung)
