[Woosh]

So I'm about half way through watching the rant-fest that is the verge podcast and they won't shutup about LTE. So I am curious how many of you would pay top dollar for an unlocked LTE that runs on AT&T?

Options are -

1 - $299 8GB HSPA+
2 - $349 16GB HSPA+
3 - $499 8GB LTE
4 - $549 16GB LTE

Which would you spend your money on?

[quamdar]

Unless I'm walking or driving somewhere I have wifi pretty much all the time so never really saw the point. Just an extra battery drain IMO.

[OpenShare]

I like The Verge, I really do. I think they bring a unique blog to the table and that it asks certain questions that other mainstream tech blogs couldn't care less about. Features like "The Classics" are very refreshing and welcomed. However, let's not forget who is at the helm of The Verge, and why the psychological irony of Utopian situations and Utopian product hyperbole comes together so well there. J Tops, will never - even if it baked pizza, say that Android or an Android device has surpassed iOS or any Apple product. He will begrudgingly say "almost, if not as good as something like...[pssssh, I dunno!] the iPhone," but never "better than." So understanding that leads me to the conclusion, that like any good Fanboy, whenever an awesome product launches from a competitors stable a dissonance takes over that causes these fanatics to start looking for any excuse to say "well, it falls way to short here and here and there."

But let's be real. VZW is overpriced. Everyone else's LTE has a negligible footprint. Hell, there are places where Sprint has launched and now claims "coverage" where only two blocks are receiving signal (per forum complaints - in KC I believe). HSPA+ is, in my estimation the most harmonious balance between great speeds (especially for a smartphone, I mean c'mon) coverage, battery life and availability. Plus it cuts those two year strings that some of us have been tethered too (don't let them find out ) for 2,4,6...10 or more years even.

If you want to embrace what Nexus is, what it can mean for our wireless future, the absence of LTE is a "that's odd" moment, until you really consider it. Aren't the LTE standards in the US really just setting us all up another decade of carrier exclusivity, and regional monopolization? Which network has an LTE frequency that is compatible with another? It's the CDMA/GSM bumblecluster all over again. And it's pretty damned anti-consumer at it's core.

But that's me, and I'm a me fanboy, so ... haha, ya know it's just like my opinion man.

[bunique4life05]

LTE drain battery
I don't use LTE.
3G is fine because rarely really need LTE.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Android Central Forums

[ryanr509]

With wifi in a lot of places. and on hspa+ I never see below 3mbps in my work or in town. Why do u need 30mbps to load Facebook or flipboard?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Android Central Forums

[Woosh]

If you want to embrace what Nexus is, what it can mean for our wireless future, the absence of LTE is a "that's odd" moment, until you really consider it. Aren't the LTE standards in the US really just setting us all up another decade of carrier exclusivity, and regional monopolization? Which network has an LTE frequency that is compatible with another? It's the CDMA/GSM bumblecluster all over again. And it's pretty damned anti-consumer at it's core.

But that's me, and I'm a me fanboy, so ... haha, ya know it's just like my opinion man.

Its possible things can get better. If a radio gets invented in the future that holds the ability to use any of those, sorta how the pentaband phones currently work. But I think we are a minimum of 10 years out from LTE being fully deployed and taken advantage of.

Idk, the podcast made me pretty upset saying this is a step backwards. This is a step forward, Google has freed us of carrier contracts and carrier ties. Its something nobody is even attempting to do atm. LTE is the future no doubt, but its not the present. Just look at the Verizon commercial that shows there are like 3 places with LTE right now on AT&T. His rant was mostly just a selfish "I didn't get what I want so I'll cry about it" rather than an editorial I suppose.

Then he proceeded to say that he had no options and needed to buy an iPhone to compensate. Umm.....How about the phone that is almost identical to the N4, the Optimus G? It'll have the expandable storage, LTE, near stock look, and the non pentile screen that you "must have".

Anyway, I digress.

With wifi in a lot of places. and on hspa+ I never see below 3mbps in my work or in town. Why do u need 30mbps to load Facebook or flipboard?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Android Central Forums

I completely agree. During the podcast they did a speed test between 3 networks....the LTE(Verizon?), GN on AT&T, and T-Mobile. The results were 15 down, 0.5 down, and 8 down. They were criticizing the 8 down saying its no 15 down. Rly??? You need more than 8 down to achieve what you are attempting to do on a mobile phone. I mean they could have made a case if it popped up with 0.5 down because that is just bad but COME ON 8 down is insufficient?

I am almost certain that spending the money to build an LTE version would have been wasteful spending to Google. The poll pretty much is proving me right atm, even though its just a small number of ppl who have voted. I just don't think that there would be very many ppl who are willing to fork over a large amount of money with no subsidy for a device with LTE. Add that to the fact that some things might not even work on AT&T LTE. They claim they will activate it but will give you no support if you bring your own LTE device.

[spacecasespiff]

I agree with what they did. I've thought about it and I'm on WiFi most if the time anyway. But I will say this that I don't think having lte uses more battery. It will use a little bit more but I can easyly get 18+ hours with my sg3. That's when I'm away from WiFi. Now granted I'm not doing much with my phone but still. When i had the Onex before my town got lte I was getting the same amount of battery life.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

[MazoMark]

Funny - I don't remember The Verge slamming the iPhone 4S for lack of LTE. Now that iPhone 5 has it - LTE is a must have feature.

[klau25]

how about a 399 option for 32gig hspa+? haha.

[Woosh]

how about a 399 option for 32gig hspa+? haha.

If I had one criticism it would be that they should have started at $349 for 16 and then went to 32 for $399. But I don't hate on the way they did it since I'll be getting the 16Gb anyway and they can maybe do a bit of advertising on youtube(for free)for an unlocked phone at $299.

There certainly is a market for this $300 version though, I could easily recommend this to my sisters, mom, normies, etc. Regular ppl who don't need their phone for games and music. Its a KILLER price for such a phone.

[natehoy]

If you want to embrace what Nexus is, what it can mean for our wireless future, the absence of LTE is a "that's odd" moment, until you really consider it. Aren't the LTE standards in the US really just setting us all up another decade of carrier exclusivity, and regional monopolization? Which network has an LTE frequency that is compatible with another? It's the CDMA/GSM bumblecluster all over again. And it's pretty damned anti-consumer at it's core.

But that's me, and I'm a me fanboy, so ... haha, ya know it's just like my opinion man.

If it's just your opinion then I wish you'd get out of my head.

The lack of LTE made no sense for about 10 seconds. Then I thought about how many implementations of LTE are out there, and how badly fragmented the current LTE market is, and the fact that a Nexus phone should be "one phone to rule them all" with the carriers keeping their damned dirty hands out of MY phone's firmware, and it made perfect sense. LTE and Nexus are simply incompatible in LTE's current form and footprint. Google would have to choose a carrier, and that locks the phone to that carrier for LTE and makes the LTE radio an expensive and useless appendix for anyone using any other carrier.

It will probably be a very different picture 2-3 years from now when LTE coverage expands for all carriers. It's certainly a very different picture right now for any phone manufacturer wanting to make a carrier-specific phone. But right now, for a non-carrier-locked phone, LTE doesn't seem very useful.

[OpenShare]

If it's just your opinion then I wish you'd get out of my head.

The lack of LTE made no sense for about 10 seconds. Then I thought about how many implementations of LTE are out there, and how badly fragmented the current LTE market is, and the fact that a Nexus phone should be "one phone to rule them all" with the carriers keeping their damned dirty hands out of MY phone's firmware, and it made perfect sense. LTE and Nexus are simply incompatible in LTE's current form and footprint. Google would have to choose a carrier, and that locks the phone to that carrier for LTE and makes the LTE radio an expensive and useless appendix for anyone using any other carrier.

It will probably be a very different picture 2-3 years from now when LTE coverage expands for all carriers. It's certainly a very different picture right now for any phone manufacturer wanting to make a carrier-specific phone. But right now, for a non-carrier-locked phone, LTE doesn't seem very useful.

People are starting to get excited about having quality alternatives to carrier contracts, and I am more than happy to be an early adopter if it moves the cause forward.

[natehoy]

People are starting to get excited about having quality alternatives to carrier contracts, and I am more than happy to be an early adopter if it moves the cause forward.

I'm locked into a company-owned contract until next September, or I'd be all over this on release day.

As it stands, the company occasionally looks for one of us to do "bring your own device" and turn our company phones in. People occasionally drop or break their phones and decide they want to stay with the company-sponsored plan and need a replacement phone. It's a lot cheaper to pay the $175 ETF on one of our partially-expired contracts than it is to pay ETF on Mr. Butterfingers' contract and then buy them a brand-new phone with a new 2-year contract.

I may get on that list and see how long it takes for someone on Verizon who is currently carrying a Thunderbolt to drop it.

[ryanr509]

Its possible things can get better. If a radio gets invented in the future that holds the ability to use any of those, sorta how the pentaband phones currently work. But I think we are a minimum of 10 years out from LTE being fully deployed and taken advantage of



I completely agree. During the podcast they did a speed test between 3 networks....the LTE(Verizon?), GN on AT&T, and T-Mobile. The results were 15 down, 0.5 down, and 8 down. They were criticizing the 8 down saying its no 15 down. Rly??? You need more than 8 down to achieve what you are attempting to do on a mobile phone. I mean they could have made a case if it popped up with 0.5 down because that is just bad but COME ON 8 down is insufficient?

I am almost certain that spending the money to build an LTE version would have been wasteful spending to Google. The poll pretty much is proving me right atm, even though its just a small number of ppl who have voted. I just don't think that there would be very many ppl who are willing to fork over a large amount of money with no subsidy for a device with LTE. Add that to the fact that some things might not even work on AT&T LTE. They claim they will activate it but will give you no support if you bring your own LTE device.

Ya its a bit ridiculous. U are spending $300 on a phone with the top of the line specs in everyway and ppl are making it sound like its a bad deal. For $300 I didn't expect close to these good of hardware specs, screen or anything. The no SD card slot was expected. If lte is that important than ppl can quit their complaining and pay $350 more for a gs3 or one x+. In the case of this nexus u are paying for a Kia but getting a Ferrari

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Android Central Forums

[OpenShare]

how about a 399 option for 32gig hspa+? haha.

I would expect that as a refresh in the late winter/early Spring, right around the time that GS4 rumors are at a fever pitch.

Sent from my MB855 using Android Central Forums

[doublebullout]

Funny - I don't remember The Verge slamming the iPhone 4S for lack of LTE. Now that iPhone 5 has it - LTE is a must have feature.

Joshua mentioned the lack of LTE on the iPhone 4S several times in The Verge's review. One example is in the conclusion: "The lack of LTE, a larger display, or a new design may put off some buyers, but that won't change the fact that the 4S is a force to be reckoned with." Also, under the "Bad Stuff" heading was the following bullet point: "Improved 3G speeds don’t seem very improved, especially compared to LTE devices". Now perhaps that's not as much slamming as you'd like, but LTE coverage was more limited a year ago anyway. A year later with a growth in coverage availability, and a flagship phone without LTE is somewhat more of a headscratcher. HSAT, I live in an area where AT&T doesn't offer LTE and probably won't for a few years. The lack of LTE on the Nexus 4 is not a big deal to me at all.

[JHBThree]

I like The Verge, I really do. I think they bring a unique blog to the table and that it asks certain questions that other mainstream tech blogs couldn't care less about. Features like "The Classics" are very refreshing and welcomed. However, let's not forget who is at the helm of The Verge, and why the psychological irony of Utopian situations and Utopian product hyperbole comes together so well there. J Tops, will never - even if it baked pizza, say that Android or an Android device has surpassed iOS or any Apple product. He will begrudgingly say "almost, if not as good as something like...[pssssh, I dunno!] the iPhone," but never "better than." So understanding that leads me to the conclusion, that like any good Fanboy, whenever an awesome product launches from a competitors stable a dissonance takes over that causes these fanatics to start looking for any excuse to say "well, it falls way to short here and here and there."

But let's be real. VZW is overpriced. Everyone else's LTE has a negligible footprint. Hell, there are places where Sprint has launched and now claims "coverage" where only two blocks are receiving signal (per forum complaints - in KC I believe). HSPA+ is, in my estimation the most harmonious balance between great speeds (especially for a smartphone, I mean c'mon) coverage, battery life and availability. Plus it cuts those two year strings that some of us have been tethered too (don't let them find out ) for 2,4,6...10 or more years even.

If you want to embrace what Nexus is, what it can mean for our wireless future, the absence of LTE is a "that's odd" moment, until you really consider it. Aren't the LTE standards in the US really just setting us all up another decade of carrier exclusivity, and regional monopolization? Which network has an LTE frequency that is compatible with another? It's the CDMA/GSM bumblecluster all over again. And it's pretty damned anti-consumer at it's core.

But that's me, and I'm a me fanboy, so ... haha, ya know it's just like my opinion man.

Apparently you didn't read his iPhone 5 review, where he said that he would choose his Galaxy Nexus over the 5 because of iOS.

[OpenShare]

Apparently you didn't read his iPhone 5 review, where he said that he would choose his Galaxy Nexus over the 5 because of iOS.

I'm not calling you a liar, but - I don't think that he prominently makes this announcement sans caveat. I'll have to re-watch it, but I somehow doubt it's as cut and dry as all of that.

Sent from my MB855 using Android Central Forums

[JHBThree]

If it's just your opinion then I wish you'd get out of my head.

The lack of LTE made no sense for about 10 seconds. Then I thought about how many implementations of LTE are out there, and how badly fragmented the current LTE market is, and the fact that a Nexus phone should be "one phone to rule them all" with the carriers keeping their damned dirty hands out of MY phone's firmware, and it made perfect sense. LTE and Nexus are simply incompatible in LTE's current form and footprint. Google would have to choose a carrier, and that locks the phone to that carrier for LTE and makes the LTE radio an expensive and useless appendix for anyone using any other carrier.

It will probably be a very different picture 2-3 years from now when LTE coverage expands for all carriers. It's certainly a very different picture right now for any phone manufacturer wanting to make a carrier-specific phone. But right now, for a non-carrier-locked phone, LTE doesn't seem very useful.

Then explain how apple is able to support LTE for a vast majority of networks worldwide on the iPhone 5.

The argument google is making makes absolutely no sense in light of newer Qualcomm chipsets that are as efficient as possible in the current market. They should have just been honest and said that the carriers suck so they're refusing to work with them, because that's the truth.

[JHBThree]

I'm not calling you a liar, but - I don't think that he prominently makes this announcement sans caveat. I'll have to re-watch it, but I somehow doubt it's as cut and dry as all of that.

Sent from my MB855 using Android Central Forums

It is. He said point blank he could not go back to iOS after using Jelly bean.

[OpenShare]

It is. He said point blank he could not go back to iOS after using Jelly bean.

I just watched the review and he actually never says that. He says, "the iPhone 5 is the best smartphone for the mass market," and that "some user's himself included would like to see smartphone OSes evolve."

So, there is that.

Sent from my MB855 using Android Central Forums

[Woosh]

Then explain how apple is able to support LTE for a vast majority of networks worldwide on the iPhone 5.

The argument google is making makes absolutely no sense in light of newer Qualcomm chipsets that are as efficient as possible in the current market. They should have just been honest and said that the carriers suck so they're refusing to work with them, because that's the truth.

Apple made 9 billion ish in sales last quarter and you are having a hard time understanding how they can do it?

Why not look at the amount of lte that is deployed in comparison to straight gsm carriers. The number is very tiny. I agree with them....there will be a time that lte is important to provide....now is not that time.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[OpenShare]

Apple made 9 billion ish in sales last quarter and you are having a hard time understanding how they can do it?

Why not look at the amount of lte that is deployed in comparison to straight gsm carriers. The number is very tiny. I agree with them....there will be a time that lte is important to provide....now is not that time.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Bingo.

First of all the iP5 costs what, $600 off contract? So unless that is a $250 radio, something doesn't add up.

Second, VZW is basically the only carrier on Earth with a substantial LTE footprint. The point of the Nexus is to sidestep as many "fringe" frequencies as possible in order to design a truly unchained phone (or as possible as that can be for a single device).

I have to ask, what is the point of "covering all LTE networks whenever carrier shenanigans wont even allow you to use that amazing iPhone radio from Sprint on T-Mobile? Maybe it has more to do with logistics and production costs than it does pursing a free range mobile handset.

Sent from my MB855 using Android Central Forums

[JHBThree]

I just watched the review and he actually never says that. He says, "the iPhone 5 is the best smartphone for the mass market," and that "some user's himself included would like to see smartphone OSes evolve."

So, there is that.

Sent from my MB855 using Android Central Forums

Actually read his review.

[JHBThree]

Apple made 9 billion ish in sales last quarter and you are having a hard time understanding how they can do it?

Why not look at the amount of lte that is deployed in comparison to straight gsm carriers. The number is very tiny. I agree with them....there will be a time that lte is important to provide....now is not that time.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

What apple makes has nothing to do with it. The fact is that multiple carriers are launching LTE service soon around the world, and this nexus won't be able to take advantage of it.