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Serious Question: Why Do You Need LTE?

NeXuS4

NeXuS4

Android Enthusiast
Okay so I'm asking a serous question here so please answer honestly and appropriately.

As far as I'm concerned the only legitimate knocks on the Nexus are thus:

- Battery life
- Non expandable storage (this is the worst)
- No LTE (This is subjective and controversial)

Last time I checked HPSA+ was fast enough to stream HD Content no question and it's easier on your battery.

So why are there so many begging for LTE? Why do reviewers lower the phones score for not having it?

Are these people just that desperate to be under Verizon's Thumb?

In my opinion the majority of reviewers are simply biased towards Verizon and that's why this phone isn't getting more love and is dismissed as niche by some.

Thoughts? Am I wrong? Sound off.
 
People want the latest and greatest.....
I think LTE is a waste of time having used it.

I am happy with HSPA... others are not.
 
i'm coming from sprints so I'm thinking hspa42+ will be a huge leap forward for me, and way more then enough speeds according to speed test's by other people. Also at the t-mobile store speed test was 16Mbps up i forget what down, this will easily stream video and probably decent skype calls will test out when i finally get the service lolz. Hopefully will be great enough for voip calls so then won't worry about my minutes, i will use wifi most of the time for that anyway :D

For those speeds i can only see gaming that would need that but doing that would eat your data cap way to fast :-\ which i've also read people getting faster speeds on t-mobile then verizon in a lot of big cities
 
I've used everything...
HSPA, HSPA+, WiMAX, EVDO, LTE, you name it, I've used it!

I'm going to make this really simple. If you live in an LTE area, and want the fastest speeds on your phone, then you want LTE. Just no way around it! Yes HSPA+ on Tmobile is pretty fast, it's Second amongst data speeds IMO from all my testing. But when you talk about speed on a phone and what not, you just really can't beat LTE, from watching a movie, streaming on the go, watching YouTube, surfing the web, etc, its just the latest and greatest, and speediest at the end of the day!
 
sean76 said:
I've used everything...
HSPA, HSPA+, WiMAX, EVDO, LTE, you name it, I've used it!

I'm going to make this really simple. If you live in an LTE area, and want the fastest speeds on your phone, then you want LTE. Just no way around it! Yes HSPA+ on Tmobile is pretty fast, it's Second amongst data speeds IMO from all my testing. But when you talk about speed on a phone and what not, you just really can't beat LTE, from watching a movie, streaming on the go, watching YouTube, surfing the web, etc, its just the latest and greatest, and speediest at the end of the day!
Click to expand...

Question is, do you find yourself struggling through a Youtube video or watching an HD movie on HSPA+? Is LTE THAT much faster?
 
Nope. HSPA+ has given me great speeds. Streamed two movies in HD on Netflix with great quality on T-Mobile's network.
 
RaLeX said:
Question is, do you find yourself struggling through a Youtube video or watching an HD movie on HSPA+? Is LTE THAT much faster?
Click to expand...


That's a hard question to answer because it really matters where you are. If your asking me directly, then yes LTE in my area for YouTube is probably anywhere from 5-10 seconds faster when watching a video. And say you want to fast forward, with LTE the whole clip is basically loaded a few seconds after it starts, with H+ its basically not and has to buffer again to get going. In essence , LTE is just faster under a lot of circumstances.
 
Since I live in a highly populated and highly rolled out area our hpsa+ is plenty fast. I count to 4 before my Netflix will start playing and it doesn't buffer at all after that. Music is obviously faster, and this on AT&T so it's only hspa+21. I'll be trying out the 42 on T-Mobile next year :)
 
Granted...this just happens to be the speeds I'm getting right this second, sometimes I get HSPA+ speeds that are very close to LTE, buy it really matters where I am. Right now I'm in Brooklyn NY and these are the speeds I just got on both my nexus 4 running on TMO's HSPA+ and my iPhone 5 on at&t's LTE network.

nexus 4
pevy8egy.jpg


iPhone 5
qy6eje3e.jpg
 
I live in an area where I get full LTE coverage on my Galaxy Nexus, as opposed to minimal HSPA+ coverage. And I live fairly close to a T Mobile store.

That's why I need LTE :-) for now at least.

Also, I have unlimited data on Verizon right now, so don't tell me that I'm paying for a data cap :-)
 
viper689 said:
I live in an area where I get full LTE coverage on my Galaxy Nexus, as opposed to minimal HSPA+ coverage. And I live fairly close to a T Mobile store.

That's why I need LTE :-) for now at least.

Also, I have unlimited data on Verizon right now, so don't tell me that I'm paying for a data cap :-)
Click to expand...

But that's apples and oranges, I think the op is asking for a scenario in which the speed advantage of LTE would come into play. Streaming video on either network in my area is comparable.
 
As I see it LTE isn't a need but a want. Just like a 3DTV, why have that when you have a full HDTV and a blue ray player? Just to have it and boast. In my house I get poor signal of WiMax (vm) so anything that would increase either my signal or speed would be fine.
 
I think if I was running LTE on my previous phone and wanted to upgrade there's one thing i'd consider first......

1. Was my experience on LTE worth while sticking with it?

If my experience was "meh" then i'd go with the Nexus 4. Otherwise i'd go with a different phone. But that's another dilemma entirely cause the Nexus 4 would be the phone I want!

I'm in the UK and LTE is a new thing here and it's expensive. Also H+ is plenty fast for me and what I do on my phone.

So to answer the OP question..... No. I don't need it. And even if I had it I would've probably still gone for the Nexus 4.

:D
 
viper689 said:
I live in an area where I get full LTE coverage on my Galaxy Nexus, as opposed to minimal HSPA+ coverage. And I live fairly close to a T Mobile store.

That's why I need LTE :-) for now at least.

Also, I have unlimited data on Verizon right now, so don't tell me that I'm paying for a data cap :-)
Click to expand...


The thing is there has to be instances where the inverse is also true , yet I don't see cnet taking points from the iPhone 5 for not supporting HPSA+ coverage.
 
i was with sprint...slow ass 3G... then 4G WiMax came along.. i thought back then 4-5 mbps was fast.... well, that was 30 miles away from home...so i left and went with Vz.... their LTE was good, but not the best... avg 15-20mbps.. and my youtube videos still stuttered...
i am not with TMo with hspa and i see very difference.. if any, i think the latency is better.... i still have yet to stutter videos and i only average 8-12 mbps
for real life use, i see no difference... all my apps still load plenty fast.
IMO its not real deal breaker
 
I've used LTE on both Verizon and AT&T in the Houston, Texas area. In general, there are very few times when I've really been bothered by the lack of LTE speeds when I'm out of that coverage area because there seem to be as many glitches with LTE slowing down data speeds as with HSPDA speeds. Very rarely have I every had uninterrupted LTE data streaming of any type where 3G/ HSPDA may be slower, but is more consistent. The end result is I seem to spend as much time downloading on one or the other.

LTE may be faster, but only if it works perfectly. And no matter what Verizon or AT&T claim, I've never had consistent experience with it so it's not something I look for or even miss. Those networks need to mature some more before they're ready to be indispensably and make a real difference in my day-to-day use.

:pcguru:
 
I think what we're doing here is trying to really justify the nexus 4 not having LTE? The majority of those saying the phone doesn't need it don't live in an area lit up by LTE. I honestly can't sit here and say I don't care, I do! Let me make this very simple...if you had two devices in your hand, no matter the OS or the manufacturer and one was on LTE, and the other HSPA or +, and you were surfing the web or watching a few vids or clips, etc, and you ran them both side by side in area lit up by both, you'd pick LTE everytime. It's just as simple as that!

I'm not saying H+ is really crappy or not good, but it's older technology! It's plenty fast for some, but others that have been using it for some time will find it really hard to adjust, I have two devices I'm carrying at the moment. The N4 and iphone 5, ones a personal device, one is used for business. I've been using them both side by side for a week now. Here and there I will get some really good speeds, like really good as in 13-14Mbps on my N4 and others I will get really low speeds like 1-2Mbps. It's just the reality of the footprint that I'm seeing with Tmobile in and around NYC. When it's good, dam it's really good! But when it's slow, most of the time indoors, it's just really slow. It is what it is! However I haven't dropped not one call on my nexus 4, not one, so that's great because it is a phone 1st and foremost.

But LTE in the five boroughs is just never a let down for me, it's basically always fast, and just really works. Like I said, if its in your area, and you try it, you will find it very had to not use it.
 
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