Droid 4 gains LTE global roaming GSM and UMTS

[DylanMitchell]

I heard about the Droid 4 release and immediately wanted to upgrade from my Droid 3. I heard the Droid 4 isn't a global phone and looked up the specs. The Droid 4 adds LTE and drops GSM and UTM. This means the phone won't work in Europe. It also has a non removeable batter. LTE and the 1 GB of Ram make it one of the best Droids and it's great keyboard rivals Blackberries. I'm going to wait to see if rumors about adding global capacity to the Droid 4 come true before I consider replacing my Droid 3 especially since I'm not up for a new phone. It may get more challening to roam if the LTE use in the states isn't compatible with LTE used overseas and GSM and UTMS are dropped from more phones. Reminds me of the days when I needed a phone that was analog and digital so I could make calls where digital hadn't gotten to.

Droid 3:
Network All?Digital, 800/1900, CDMA EVDO rev A and GSM 850/900/1800/1900 UMTS


Droid 4:
Network CDMA 800, 1900 EVDO REV A/LTE B13 700

 

[Iria]

I heard about the Droid 4 release and immediately wanted to upgrade from my Droid 3. I heard the Droid 4 isn't a global phone and looked up the specs. The Droid 4 adds LTE and drops GSM and UTM. This means the phone won't work in Europe. It also has a non removeable batter. LTE and the 1 GB of Ram make it one of the best Droids and it's great keyboard rivals Blackberries. I'm going to wait to see if rumors about adding global capacity to the Droid 4 come true before I consider replacing my Droid 3 especially since I'm not up for a new phone. It may get more challening to roam if the LTE use in the states isn't compatible with LTE used overseas and GSM and UTMS are dropped from more phones. Reminds me of the days when I needed a phone that was analog and digital so I could make calls where digital hadn't gotten to.

Droid 3:
Network All?Digital, 800/1900, CDMA EVDO rev A and GSM 850/900/1800/1900 UMTS


Droid 4:
Network CDMA 800, 1900 EVDO REV A/LTE B13 700

Verizon has already announced the LG Spectrum and Droid 4 will be the first LTE phones to GSM Roam.

Motorola Droid 4 and LG Spectrum will have global GSM roaming, eventually | The Verge

 

[Kmcferrin]

Reminds me of the days when I needed a phone that was analog and digital so I could make calls where digital hadn't gotten to.

I thought that the digital phones were all dual-mode? In 20 years of mobile use I never had a time when I had to carry two handsets due to signalling, even when Ameritech/Cingular cut over from TDMA/D-AMPS to CDMA.

 

[rudnickg]

I already ordered my Droid 4 in hopes that the announcement of GSM roaming will prove true. Has anyone been able to verify this with Verizon? When I asked, I got blank stares, even from their telephone support. The leaked spec sheets showed quad-band GSM, but that wasn't official, and I've heard that LTE is actually an extension of GSM standards and not CDMA, but I would feel a lot better if someone from Verizon would verify that it's going to roam in Europe. Has anyone received confirmation of the January 12th announcement?

 

[eturk]

Looks like no GSM on Droid 4? Droid 2 & 3 were global. Seems no room for GSM after adding LTE radio.

 

[tliebeck]

According to ifixit's teardown, the Droid 4 does in fact have a UTMS capable chipset (Qualcomm MDM6600) . That said, I haven't heard of any means to actually use it. Theoretically it could come in a software update, or it could simply be an unusable design artifact.

Motorola Droid 4 Teardown ? iFixit Blog

 

[eturk]

Looks like this is the same chipset as Verizon iPhone 4 and Droid Pro World. As this artcile says, Verizon COULD have chose to support GSM world in iPhone 4 but didn't.
iPhone 4 Verizon Teardown - Page 3 - iFixit

Seems Verizon again decided to put in a chip but kill a feature. Verizon is smarter and more all-knowing that we mortals. Evidenced by their FCC letter yesterday encouraging all phone bootloaders to be locked in America. Verizon lets loose its stance on locked bootloaders in letter to the FCC -- Engadget

Add to this that all their 4G phones have trouble connecting to the data network.
This Is Why Your Verizon Galaxy Nexus (Or Other 4G LTE VZW Phone) Is Losing Its Data Connection

I had just switched to Verizon and now I'm realizing I'm tied to a monopoly for 2 years.