Why do I need a 4G cell phone?
 

I'm probably going to get a Verizon iPhone in the next month or so, which is not LTE/4G capable.

I'm not sure that I should care. Why do I need 4G? I won't be using it to tether to my computer (I have a Sprint 3G/4G mifi I can use). I'm sure using Facebook/email/web on the iPhone will be perfectly fast enough with 3G. What do I need 4G for? What am I overlooking?

Thanks!

If wifi is not available then to my knowledge you'll just be missing out on faster browsing speeds. Google 3G vs 4g for comps...

I really don't think I'll notice a slightly faster speed on a small cell phone. So I wait 1.5 seconds instead of 1 second - who cares?

Nobody needs 4G just like nobody needs a 100 mpbs line at home. For occasional browsing, 3G is fine.

4G is much faster. I can get by on 3G, but it's much more enjoyable when I'm not waiting for pictures and other types of media to download slowly. Sounds like speed isn't a big concern for you, so I wouldn't get it.

4G lets you hit your caps faster.:p

Yeah it's hype and Verizon is obviously pushing it to get lock-in. LTE phones will not be as universal as 3G phones because there are way more bands which are going to be used.

So you can't take your Verizon 4G phone and use it on AT&T's LTE network or any other LTE network around the world as easily as you now can take quad-band phones around the world.

Really the promise of 4G might have been that it would be good enough to serve both your home and mobile connectivity. But with low caps, that's pointless, especially on a mobile device.

Current 4G devices just are more pricey and use up your battery faster. I don't know if 4G pricing is higher than 3G but lock-in may be reason enough for Verizon to push it.

That's what my children are going through. They both had T-mobile Mytouch (HTC) 3G slide and were happy with it until they started having problems with it. T-mobile replaced my older son's phone with HTC G2 and offered my younger son Sidekick 4G in magenta. My son doesn't like the colour. But since he had he chance to get 4G, he is wondering if he should hold out for 4G.

I have 3G
 

I have MetroPCS 3G for cellphone service and yes its nice to have Mobile Web for emergencies with WAP access I still use my laptop or IPod Touch on WiFi.

I find the 4G speeds to be quick but not as quick as WiFi. When the internet at our house went out I went to a Starbucks located 3 minutes away and used their WiFi. I have a list of WiFi Hotspots that are reliable.

The local library gives unlimited WiFi but limited computer wired access using their computers and I go there as well.

My point in case is if you have WiFi you will get much better and more consistent speeds using WiFi. Especially for streaming audio or video your best bet is having a laptop or netbook.

I use my Cellphone in the car for web to check on traffic, weather and get maps while driving.

4G can be slower if the signal strength is weak just like WiFi. At least with my ATT DSL I can access all ATT hotspots for free but since Starbucks is free anyways no problem.

If you want an iPhone, it's game over there, since you get what Apple offers today.

1) A 4G phone has 3G failback in case of an 4G issue.
2) For a while, there may be less 4G users than 3G users in an area. As time goes by, this may reverse, everyone is upgraded to 4G and fewer use 3G.
3) In theory, a faster network, albeit shared, allows more users to consume the same amount of bandwidth then a slower one. A 50K web page is downloaded in less time, and that user isn't using the network anymore. The problem comes from increased demand, when everyone who was streaming 320x240 youtube videos starts streaming 720x480, etc.
When some sites autodetect what your client can do, they automatically upgrade you into the higher bandwidth product.

Other than that, buy the iPhone, enjoy it for a few years, then when the [internal] battery life starts getting problematic, either have Apple replace it or upgrade to the current model.

The other consideration for 'speed' these days is the phone's processor(s). Anecdotally, the faster phone on the same network seems to be faster. Again, not an issue if you have committed to an iPhone, but more of an issue with selecting an Android phone.

4G phones currently tend to have reduced battery life compared to 3G phones. 4G is definitely faster than 3G apples to apples, but depends on what you tend to do. If you're going to d/l video or large items/pages - it'll make a difference.

If you have a present 3G smartphone which feels fast enough, and you don't plan to keep the phone more than the two year life a contract, you don't need one.

If you feel like "well, it'd be nice if it was faster" about the 3G, it'll probably only get worse over time as bandwidth-users get worse. One thought - if you hit a few bandwidth-heavy apps, you can always occasionally tether the phone to the mifi.

Speak for yourself on not needing the 100mbps line at home :P

Whether 3G (which can mean a pretty broad range of speeds) on a smartphone is fine totally depends on what apps you use, and for "Facebook/email/web" how patient the OP is.

Except CDMA/EVDO is already pretty thoroughly locked in; in theory you can go between carriers on the US CDMA bands but in practice even the carriers make it a pain in the neck and since it's linked to the phone's IMEI rather than a SIM, there's no way around dealing with the carrier as gatekeeper.

Yes but LTE is an extension of GSM, not CDMA.

So it does have SIMs but obviously, Verizon moved to it not to access the greater variety of phones but because there was really no competitor to LTE.


Right now, there aren't enough LTE networks around the world to determine which bands are used, whether there are a common set of bands which could be supported by a global LTE device.

This is the biggest deal killer and steered me away from 4G phones including the Nexus. Most people are turning off 4G because it drains their battery in a matter of hours. In that case, what's the reason for paying for 4G in the first place?

Mobile 4G is still in its technological infancy. The 2nd generation of chips are supposed to be smaller/less power consuming but you won't see those in phones until next year (maybe the iPhone 5?)

Personally I wouldn't trade the gain in speed for the drain in battery... but if you transfer a lot of media too/from your phone and keeped it plugged in most of the time, then a 4G phone wouldn't be out of the question.

Good luck.

I wouldn't go out of my way to buy a 4G device next year. If there's a phone that I want which has it and it has decent battery life and the data contract is the same as the 3G data contracts, I would get it.

But really, I want to see how LTE networks around the world shake out and whether there will be attempts to make global LTE products.

US is a big country but a lot of people live and travel to several neighboring countries frequently, such as in Europe, where you figure there will be some kind of interoperatiblity between networks in a country and across networks in different countries.

That might command enough volume of devices meeting that interoperatiblity standard that other regions like Asia adopt the same bands and devices.