T-Mobile announces native video calling on Galaxy Note 5 and Edge 6+, other Android phones soon

T-Mobile, in a blog post this morning, announced a brand new communication service for its customers. Without needing to install a third party app, T-Mo subscribers will be able to place video calls from a compatible device, just by using the regular phone interface. Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5 users should have the feature available already through a software update rolling out today, while Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge customers can expect the download to arrive next week. By the end of this year, three more phones will have video calling enabled, giving T-Mo a total of 7 compatible devices.

Any device with Video Calling enabled will see a small camera icon appear next to contacts with devices capable of receiving video calls. Video calls can be made over both LTE and Wi-Fi networks and, like HD Voice calls, it can switch seamlessly between LTE and Wi-Fi without dropping the call. Since the list of compatible devices is very small, and because it requires both users to be on T-Mobile, the chances of being able to use this technology are slim right now. But, T-Mo sees this as part of its vision to advance all forms of wireless communication.

Last month it announced Advanced Messaging, which lets users see real-time chat with friends in the native SMS/Messaging app. Before that, it was one of the first to roll out VoLTE calls and seamless HD Voice switching between Wi-Fi and LTE.

You can make T-Mobile Video Calls to and from capable devices on any available LTE connection − using data straight from your high-speed data bucket − as well as over Wi-Fi. Like HD Voice calls, T-Mobile Video Calling moves seamlessly between LTE and Wi-Fi. And, if you move off LTE or Wi-Fi to a slower connection, your video call seamlessly switches over to a voice call. If you move back to LTE or Wi-Fi, switch it back to video with a single tap.

If you have a Galaxy S6 Edge+ or a Galaxy Note 5, you’ll be able to video call other users on T-Mobile with the same device (providing they’ve downloaded and installed the update). If you haven’t received it yet, head to Settings>About Device>Software Update to check manually and you should find an update waiting for you.