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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsOn one roughly six-hour T-Mobile drive through Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold each registered a 5G signal just over 98% of the time, while the Motorola Razr Fold registered 5G 89% of the time. Those figures come from a single route and a measurement app whose signal-type labels proved unreliable, so they are a snapshot—not a national coverage score or a definitive ranking of these phones.
What the road test found
ZDNET author Adam Doud reported the results after driving around the southern end of Lake Michigan with all three phones on T-Mobile. In that run, the Samsung and Google foldables had nearly identical reported 5G connection time; the Motorola’s share was lower.
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| Phone | Reported 5G signal time | What the figure represents |
|---|---|---|
| Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra | Just over 98% | ZDNET author Adam Doud’s result for this trip in 2026. |
| Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold | Just over 98% | ZDNET author Adam Doud’s result for this trip in 2026. |
| Motorola Razr Fold | 89% | ZDNET author Adam Doud’s result for this trip in 2026. |
The result does not establish that the Samsung and Google models receive equal service everywhere, or that the Motorola will perform worse on another route. Doud’s conclusion was narrower: in this sample, the phone model did not appear to make much difference between Samsung and Google.
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Doud mounted the three phones on the same tripod arrangement, about a foot apart and level with the back-seat windows. Their positions stayed fixed instead of being rotated during the trip, a choice intended to keep the measurement arrangement consistent. All three phones were connected to a 4Patriots Alphacase Elite solar generator, and the nPerf app recorded the data.
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The route began in Streamwood, Illinois, continued by city streets toward Calumet City, Indiana, then crossed north-central Indiana to Valparaiso and went north to Benton Harbor, Michigan. The return trip included I-94, I-294 and I-290. The drive took about six hours. It sampled the Illinois–Indiana–Michigan area near the south end of Lake Michigan; western areas were not included in this recent test series.
T-Mobile was the only carrier in this experiment. Doud said he chose it because his earlier tests had generally found it more consistent, though not always the fastest, and the only network in those earlier tests to return a standalone 5G connection. That earlier-test context does not turn this trip into a comparison of carriers.
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Why the mmWave results are questionable
nPerf classified Samsung’s connection as mmWave 42% of the time and Google’s 49% of the time. Doud considered those proportions implausible for the described country-road route, given mmWave’s short range. The app also recorded one mmWave point for the Razr Fold among more than 9,000 data points, even though the phone reportedly lacks an mmWave antenna.
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After Doud asked nPerf to investigate, he reported that the app appeared to confuse T-Mobile Ultra Capacity (UC) connectivity with mmWave. That means the reported 42% and 49% should not be read as reliable measurements of actual mmWave use. The article says a generic 5G category can instead be formed by combining the app’s nr-nsa, nr-sa and nr-nsa-mmw classifications, despite the apparent labeling problem.
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What the lower Motorola figure does—and does not—show
The Razr Fold’s reported 89% is lower than the figures for the Samsung and Google phones in this run, but the test does not identify a proven cause. Doud noted that Motorola’s six internal antennas did not correspond to the highest measured 5G share here. He suggested the phone may have held onto a faint LTE signal rather than switching to 5G, but presented that as a theory, not a demonstrated mechanism.
Fixed phone positions, one route, one carrier and one drive all limit what can be inferred. The setup kept the phones in a consistent arrangement, but it did not test whether rotating their positions, repeating the route, or using another measurement app would change the results. Nor does the report provide matched comparisons across other regions or a separate validation of standalone versus non-standalone 5G status.
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How to use these results
- For this route: The reported 5G time was just over 98% for Samsung and Google and 89% for Motorola.
- For phone choice: The figures offer no broad reception guarantee or universal winner. They show how these devices were recorded on this particular trip.
- For signal type: Treat the mmWave breakdown as compromised by the apparent UC/mmWave classification confusion; do not use it to compare the phones’ mmWave reception.
- For carrier coverage: The experiment used T-Mobile alone and cannot establish how T-Mobile compares with other networks.
ZDNET’s original report by Adam Doud, published September 30, 2026, provides the route and test details behind these figures.
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