Opinions on 4G/LTE?

[thebignewt]

I don't live in a 4G area. I'm aware of the problems with the GN switching between 3G EVDO and 4G LTE. I'm also aware that with LTE one can indeed "blab and surf" at the same time. For me web pages load pretty fast with 3G (way faster than when I had Tmob's EDGE 2G). I'm asking opinions as to what are the biggest benfits to using 4G over 3G and Wifi (which most of us have at home I'm sure).

 

[greydarrah]

I have no 4g in my town, so I live on 3g and wifi (at home and work). I do travel on the weekends and where I go usually has 4g. Though I haven't officially speed tested anything, I notice no difference from 4g to wifi. The phone is blazing fast on either one and not at all sluggish on 3g.

 

[johnnyshinta]

Well besides the simultaneous voice and data there aren't many benefits that you will experience often. Unless you stream all the time. My friend has the rezound and has 4G on all the time. All he does all day is watches YouTube so he really gets a benefit of 4G. I on the otherhand don't get 4g in my office and use wifi at home.

But some people in another thread pointed out the simultaneous voice and data and that seemed like a pretty good benefit. Although the battery drain may not be worth it.

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[BSG75]

I almost never need to use voice and data, so that's not a big deal for me. 4G is nice when streaming SiriusXM or Pandora because the tracks buffer faster. If you need to upload pictures or download Google Music, it's also very nice. Aside from moving files, and having fun checking speeds, it's not that critical, IMO. It's very nice, but not critical.

 

[johnnyshinta]

I almost never need to use voice and data, so that's not a big deal for me. 4G is nice when streaming SiriusXM or Pandora because the tracks buffer faster. If you need to upload pictures or download Google Music, it's also very nice. Aside from moving files, and having fun checking speeds, it's not that critical, IMO. It's very nice, but not critical.

So is it worth the battery drain in your opinion?

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[dmmarck]

So is it worth the battery drain in your opinion?

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It's also great for movies and such on Netflix. I love it for streaming in general. Past that, I ride on 3G/WiFi.

 

[BSG75]

So is it worth the battery drain in your opinion?

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A few things:

1. You can turn off LTE in the settings on the stock Nexus. So that shouldn't be a concern. You can always revert to 3G.
2. Every custom rom will provide quick LTE/3G toggles. I'm running AOKP Milestone 3 and it has nice notification widgets that include LTE/3G.
3. I bought the charging dock that includes an extra standard battery. You can swap batteries easily with the thin door, so that's what I do. For that reason, I just leave LTE on.
4. In general, I can definitely go 12 hours of normal use before the battery will actually die. ("Normal" is subjective, yes). That is 80% LTE and 20% wifi. Longer on just wifi.

So I would not avoid LTE at all. Get LTE if you can.

 

[dcastillo]

One of the biggest areas you will notice a difference is if you do video calls.... theres no comparison between 3G and 4G...

 

[thebignewt]

One of the biggest areas you will notice a difference is if you do video calls.... theres no comparison between 3G and 4G...

I would imagine that's the case. I don't do those (although I wish it had an intrinsic video app in the phone like the iPhone does, who wants to mess with thinking to open another app before you call.). I'm only an occasional YouTube hidef streamer, and those load within about 10 seconds on 3G usually. 4G obviously wasn't the reason I got this phone, I was curious how people used it so far. We're supposedly getting in in a few months here.

 

[johnnyshinta]

Here is an approximation of my usage.

Assuming I get 8hrs every night that's 33% of the week.

8.5hrs a day I'm at work so that's 25% of the week I don't get 4g

Weekday evenings I'm on wifi so that's 16% of the week it's not necessary.

On weekends I'm usually up for about 15hrs a day. I gauged that I'm at home for about 7 of those hours. That's 8%

So all together that's 82% of the week where 4g is useless for me.


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[jeres88]

4G is extremely fast, faster than my Wifi even (though admittedly not a lot faster than wifi). I think that it is worth the battery draing, I keep my 4G on all day, and my phone easily makes it through a day of work (8hours) and normally a good portion of my evening before needing a charge. I also leave my phone off the charger overnight, the battery doesn't drop much during that time though.

 

[phattysalz]

In response to the OP, on my home wifi, there is no advantage of 4g over wifi. The wifi uses less battery and is just as fast.

Everywhere else though, the 4g is blazing fast. It is faster than most public wifi spots and light years faster than 3g. The rate at which Verizon is rolling out 4g, you will probably have it soon.

Slingbox, Netflix, video chats and Pandora run flawlessly over 4g in very high quality.

Streaming video will chew up data pretty quick. I was grandfathered in with the unlimited (aka: 5gb warning level) plan so I don't care. If you have a new 2 gb plan you may have to pay attention.



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