Google: Google Pixel 7 doesn’t support the latest 5G standards, may arrive with Android 14

Google launched the Pixel 7 smartphone series in October 2022. The smartphone series uses Samsungs Exynos 5300 Modem. In December 2022, the South Korea-based tech giant’s website offered a brief reference to the modem. Samsung claims that the modem comes with the latest 5G standards. According to a report by 9to5Google, which responded to a submission in the Android 13 QPR issue tracker on Reddit, a Google employee claimed that the Exynos 5300 modem available in the Pixel 7 smartphones supports older 5G standards.
However, the Googler also mentioned that the company may add the latest standards of 5G connectivity with its upcoming Android 14. Pixel 7 is expected to be updated with the latest 5G standards later in 2023. Apart from that, the report also states that the Pixel 8 is said to use the same 5300 modems with the Tensor G3 chipset. So, likely, the upcoming phone will get support for the latest 5G standards.
Latest 5G standards: what are they?
3GPP is an association of several standards organizations that develop protocols for mobile telecommunications. 5G is currently the main focus for the regulator and the standards are referred to as “releases”.
The first 5G standard, Release 15, was introduced in June 2018. This was followed by Release 16 in July 2020. In 2021, Qualcomm added support for Release 16 snapdragon X65. the chipmaker also added support for the latest standard for the 2022 X70 modem, which Samsung uses in its latest Galaxy S23 flagship models).

Meanwhile, Release 17 was announced in June 2022 and 3GPP is targeting a Release 18 launch in 2024. Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon X75 with Release 17 and 18 support earlier this month. Earlier this month, the company introduced the Snapdragon X75, which supports both Release 17 and 18.
Meaning of version 16
Qualcomm states that Release 16 brings a “variety of improvements to the fundamental aspects of the 5G system in terms of coverage, capacity, latency, performance, mobility, reliability, ease of deployment and more”. The company mentions that the power saving features of the newer 5G standard are significant.
Describing the latest standard, Qualcomm said: “For example, a new wake-up signal (WUS) can inform the device when a transmission is pending, or allow it to remain in low-power mode and skip the next low-power (discontinuous) DRX receipt) monitoring period. Others include optimized low-power settings, overhead reduction, and more efficient power control mechanisms.”