T-Mobile Apple iPhone 5 hands-on

Lots of words were spoken by T-Mobile's CEO, John Legere, at today's big “uncarrier” event taking place in New York City. In fact, some serious four letter words were used numerous times throughout the event, which were mainly targeted at the competition, as T-Mobile officially introduced its brand spanking new rate plans and devices. Highly regarded as a long time in the making, T-Mobile is finally getting the iPhone! And boy did it take a long, especially considering they're the last of the major wireless “carriers” to get it. Well folks, the wait won't be long, as the iPhone 5 is going to be available come April 12th.

So what's there to say about this one? Well people, there's nothing major with the design, since you know, it's the same iPhone 5 we all know and love on the outside. In fact, there's nothing that we can visually see that's different – aside for the obvious T-Mobile name that's occupying the top left corner in the interface. Did we think it would be different? Not exactly, but to T-Mobile's credit, this specific version is unique in the fact that it's the only iPhone 5 to support T-Mo's AWS bands, to get both HSPA+ and 4G LTE connectivity. In addition to that, HD Voice is also going to be supported by this one, which makes it the sole iPhone 5 to do just that. Beyond that, this is the same lovable iPhone 5 that AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint customers have been enjoying for months now.

For this specific event, T-Mobile brought along its 4G LTE network to show off its speedy nature. And of course, we decided to put the new iPhone 5 through a couple of speed tests. Hardly a surprise, latency was pretty low and speeds were undoubtedly fast – well, it wasn't too much of a shocker, considering that it's not commercially available for the masses around these parts. In regards to HD Voice, we managed to test out the new feature, but quite frankly, it's really tough to gauge its prowess in a noisy room filled with tons of background noise. However, we have to admit that voices came out exquisitely clear.

Overall, it's nice to know that this beauty is finally coming to the number four player in the wireless market. Therefore, T-Mobile customers won't longer be needed to pick up an unlocked iPhone to get it to work with the Magenta network. That's nice, right?

**UPDATED**
Videos are finally up showing off the phone. Check them out!