About 5G/4G communication standards

Please use the comparison table below when considering each communication module.

If your data volume is low and you want to keep BOM costs down, consider the LTE Cat. M or NB-IoT types.
LTE Cat. M, also known as LPWA (Low Power Wide Area), enables BOM cost reduction, low power consumption, and long-distance communication.
NB-IoT (Narrow Band IoT) enables communication at a narrow bandwidth of approximately 200 kHz, and while it is slower than Cat. M1, it further reduces power consumption and BOM costs.

When large-capacity communications are required, LTE-Advanced (Cat. 6 to 16) supports communications that bundle two frequency bands together, a technology called carrier aggregation (CA), to achieve high-capacity communications.

If you are looking for even higher data capacity, lower latency, and multiple simultaneous connections, please consider 5G products.

Table Comparison of communication standards (see Quectel product performance)

* Cat.: Abbreviation for LTE Category, an index showing 4G performance * Rel.: Abbreviation for Release, 3GPP mobile communication standard

* DL/UL: Down link (downlink)/Up link (uplink) * MIMO: Abbreviation for Multi Input Multi Output, a communication technology using multiple antennas

Cat. M1/NB-IoT

>Detailed specification information (BG95-M5/6) *Products listed are JATE/TELEC certified.

BG95-M5/6 [Qualcomm MDM9205]

(docomo/KDDI/SoftBank,1)

BG770A-GL

(docomo/KDDI) 

BG950/951A-GL

(docomo/KDDI*)

Cat. 1

>Detailed specifications *Products listed are JATE/TELEC certified.

EC21-J/EC21-J 

[Qualcomm MDM9307]  

(docomo/KDDI) *Mini PCIe also available

EG91-JP [Qualcomm MDM9207]

(docomo/KDDI/SoftBank*)

Cat. 1 bis

>Detailed specifications *Products listed are JATE/TELEC certified.

EG915Q-JP [Qualcomm QCX216]

(docomo/KDDI/SoftBank*)

EG916Q-GL [Qualcomm QCX216]

Cat. 4

>Detailed specifications *Products listed are JATE/TELEC certified.

EC25-J/EC25-J 

[Qualcomm MDM9207]  

(docomo/KDDI/SoftBank/Rakuten)　

*Mini PCIe also available

EG95-JP [Qualcomm MDM9307]

(docomo/KDDI/SoftBank)

EM05-G [Qualcomm MDM9207]

(docomo/KDDI/SoftBank)

Cat. 6(LTE-Advanced)

>Detailed specifications*Products listed are JATE/TELEC certified.

EM060K [Qualcomm SDX12]

(docomo/KDDI/SoftBank,2)

Cat. 12(LTE-Advanced)

>Detailed specifications*Products listed are JATE/TELEC certified.

EM12-G [Qualcomm SDX20]

(docomo/KDDI/SoftBank,2)

EM120K-GL [Qualcomm SDX12]

(docomo/KDDI/SoftBank,2)

EM120R-GL [Qualcomm SDX24]

(docomo/KDDI/SoftBank,2/Rakuten)

Cat. 16(LTE-Advanced) / 5G

>Cat. 16 product spec details

>Detailed 5G product specifications

*The products listed are JATE/TELEC certified.

EM160R-GL [Qualcomm SDX24]

(docomo/KDDI/SoftBank,2/Rakuten)

RM520N-GL [Qualcomm SDX62]

(docomo/KDDI/SoftBank,2）

*The "Product name [Qualcomm chipset name] (carrier interoperability test acquisition status)" is listed under each product image as of March 2025.

​* Quectel is currently considering acquiring

* 1: Only compatible with BG95-M6

*2: Only compatible with PC products

Introduction of various evaluation boards

We also have various evaluation boards available, so please use them when considering performance evaluation, etc.

UMTS & LTE EVB

Mini PCIe EVB

5G M2 EVB

Compatible antenna products

We also have a list of antennas for various modules and Quectel antenna products available.

Please contact us with your desired communication module product.

Related technical information page

What is Cat. 1 bis?
-Cat. 1 equivalent LTE communication with a single antenna-

Quectel Communication Module Connection Guide

Inquiry / Quotation

If you have any questions or would like a quote regarding this product, please contact us here.