A closer look at Wi-Fi performance across 2025’s top phones

The top phones of 2025 are putting far more focus on wi-fi performance than in previous years. After several product cycles focused on cellular features, 2025 is seeing more attention shift to wireless performance inside homes, offices, and public spaces. Apple’s move to introduce its first in-house networking chip, the N1, in the iPhone 17 family comes at the same time Android flagships are pushing deeper into wi-fi 7 and the 6 GHz band. As device makers chase better speeds and more consistent performance, strong wi-fi hardware is becoming as important as modem improvements.

To understand how the N1 compares with the Broadcom chip used in the iPhone 16 family – and with recent Android flagships running Qualcomm, MediaTek, or Broadcom wi-fi platforms – Speedtest Intelligence data from the first six weeks of iPhone 17 availability offers a clear picture. According to Ookla’s recent research, real-world performance improved by a wide margin, even though the N1’s published wi-fi specs appear nearly unchanged.

Apple’s N1 is built for tighter control, not top-end specs

The shift to the N1 marks another step in Apple’s long process of bringing more of the iPhone’s wireless systems under its own design. Moving away from Broadcom gives the company more control over pricing, supply, and long-term product planning. It also creates a radio platform that can be reused in Macs, iPads, Watches, and home devices.

Technically, the N1 combines wi-fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread on a single chip. Other than Bluetooth stepping up from 5.3 to 6, its listed wi-fi capabilities look almost identical to the Broadcom chipset used in the iPhone 16. Apple says tighter hardware and software integration should improve features like AirDrop and Personal Hotspot, but the raw wi-fi numbers do not shift much on paper.

The similarity also means the N1 is capped at 160 MHz channel width. It does not support the 320 MHz channels available in wi-fi 7, which give devices like the latest Qualcomm- and MediaTek-based Android flagships higher theoretical peak speeds when paired with the right routers.

In regions like the US – where the full 6 GHz band is available – this cap could limit the very highest throughput a device can hit in controlled conditions. Markets like the EU and UK, which allow only the lower portion of the 6 GHz band, also offer at least one 320 MHz channel. On paper, this puts the iPhone 17 at a disadvantage compared to Android phones using wider channels.

Real-world results tell a different story

Despite the similar published specs, the iPhone 17 family outperforms the iPhone 16 family in almost every metric. Speedtest Intelligence data shows clear improvements in download speed, upload speed, and performance stability.

To avoid skewed results caused by early adopters or market differences, countries with sample sizes for both device families were matched. Major markets like the US, UK, Germany, Japan, Italy, India, and others all showed the same trend: the iPhone 17 delivered faster wi-fi speeds than the iPhone 16. The was true in places with very high speeds, like France, and in markets closer to the global average.

Across the 10th percentile, median, and 90th percentile, the iPhone 17 posted stronger results. The global median download speed reached 329.56 Mbps – about 40% higher than the iPhone 16’s 236.46 Mbps. Upload speeds also rose from 73.68 Mbps to 103.26 Mbps.

The lower end of the performance curve saw the biggest jump. At the 10th percentile, iPhone 17 speeds were more than 60% higher than iPhone 16 speeds. At the 90th percentile, the uplift was just over 20%. The suggests the N1 is tuned to deliver smoother performance in more challenging environments, improving the everyday experience where congestion, interference, or distance from the access point often matter more than peak throughput. This mirrors earlier observations from Apple’s in-house C1 modem, which also lifted the low end of cellular performance.

In North America, where 6 GHz access is more common, the iPhone 17 reached a median download speed of 416.14 Mbps, up from 323.69 Mbps on the iPhone 16. At the country level, Singapore and France recorded the highest iPhone 17 speeds, both above 600 Mbps, helped by widespread multi-gigabit fibre.

The absence of 320 MHz support is not yet a real-world drawback

Even without 320 MHz channels, the N1 keeps the iPhone 17 competitive in all regions. It also delivered the highest global 10th percentile download speed (56.08 Mbps), reinforcing the view that it handles imperfect wi-fi conditions well.

In theory, devices that support 320 MHz channels should show clear gains in places like North America. But real-world results tell a simpler story: very few people are using 320 MHz-capable routers. Wi-fi 7 routers are still gaining ground, and most users remain on older access points. With limited adoption, the theoretical gap does not show up in aggregated data.

The iPhone 17 posting top speeds in North America – despite lacking wider channels – highlights this point. The gains from 320 MHz channels will likely become more visible over time as router adoption increases. Android makers that included the feature may benefit in the long term, but the ecosystem is not mature enough for it to show up widely today.

How Android flagships compare

Google Pixel 10 Pro

The Pixel 10 Pro posted strong results, including the highest global median download speed at 335.33 Mbps, slightly ahead of the iPhone 17. It likely continues Google’s use of Broadcom wi-fi silicon seen in previous Pixel generations. In North America, where many Chinese Android brands have limited share, the Pixel 10 Pro also delivered the strongest median and 90th percentile upload speeds.

Samsung Galaxy S25 family

Samsung’s Galaxy S25 line uses Qualcomm’s FastConnect 7900 in the Snapdragon 8 Elite platform. It sat in the upper mid-range for most performance metrics. Its main highlight was latency. In North America, Europe, and the Gulf, it posted the lowest best-case response times: 6 ms, 7 ms, and 9 ms. It also led median multi-server latency in Europe and topped 90th percentile uploads in the Gulf region.

Xiaomi’s 15T Pro leads on upload speeds

Here, upload performance showed a different pattern from downloads. In Europe and Northeast Asia, where Xiaomi has a strong user base, the Xiaomi 15T Pro delivered the fastest upload speeds in every percentile. The device uses MediaTek wi-fi silicon through the Dimensity 9400 (+) platform.

In France – known for symmetric multi-gigabit fibre – the 15T Pro was the only device to pass 100 Mbps at the 10th percentile, 500 Mbps at the median, and 1,000 Mbps at the 90th percentile. It also posted the lowest global multi-server latency at both the median (15 ms) and 90th percentile (42 ms).

Huawei’s Pura 80 performs better on non-6 GHz networks

The Huawei Pura 80 series is built on what the company calls a “self-developed chip-level collaboration” for wi-fi 7. This likely means Huawei continued its use of HiSilicon wi-fi silicon. If so, Huawei and Apple are the only major brands relying on in-house wi-fi solutions in their current flagships.

The main limitation for the Pura 80 is the lack of 6 GHz support. Devices sold in China and abroad omit the band. This restricts performance in markets where 6 GHz access is available, especially in crowded areas where the newer spectrum can provide cleaner and faster connections.

The gap appears most clearly at the high end. In Southeast Asia, the Pura 80 delivered 90th percentile download speeds of 541.33 Mbps – more than 39% lower than the Oppo Find X8 Pro, which led the region. It also trailed at the median level.

Still, the Pura 80 held its ground in some cases. On wi-fi 6 access points without 6 GHz, it delivered the second-fastest 90th percentile upload speed (603.61 Mbps) in Southeast Asia.

Wi-fi 7 and 6 GHz bring clear gains, but adoption varies widely

Across all devices studied, newer wi-fi standards produced real improvements in everyday use. Features like multi-link operation (MLO) allow devices to use multiple bands at once, similar to how carrier aggregation works in mobile networks. On supported access points, these features bring sizeable gains.

In this study, wi-fi 7 nearly doubled median download speeds compared with wi-fi 6 on the same Android devices, with uplifts between 74% and 108%. The move from wi-fi 5 to wi-fi 6 produced similar gains of 72% to 123%. Devices using 6 GHz networks also saw at least 77% faster median downloads than devices on 5 GHz.

The spread of the improvements is uneven. In North America, more than 20% of Speedtest samples from Galaxy S25 devices came from the 6 GHz band. In Europe and Northeast Asia, the share was around 5%. In the Gulf, it was only 1.7%. The numbers show that many of the benefits tied to wi-fi 7 and 6 GHz will take time to reach users globally.

(Photo by Dreamlike Street)

Want to discover how IoT is transforming telecoms and connectivity? Join the IoT Tech Expo in Amsterdam, California, and London. Explore how innovations in 5G, edge computing, and IoT are shaping the future of networks and services. The event is part of TechEx and co-located with other leading technology conferences. Click here for more information.

Telecoms News is powered by TechForge Media. Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars here.

Tags: connectivity, huawei, iPhone, mobile, wi-fi