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So lost right now!! Which provider??

I totally don't know which provider to choose for the galaxy nexus!!!
Should I pay $750 for the GSM version??
I would be able to
-get the $30 walmart/tmobile plan
-no contract
-able to save $$ overtime....
-Speeds wont be fast as the Verizon model
Or
Get the Verizon Nexus!
-I have LTE in my area
-My bill would be $79.00 plus taxes
If you was in my position, which model would you get?

whats more important to you? speed or cost?
For me, it was a pretty easy choice. I use wifi the majority of my day, at work and home. So I go for cost

Easy decision for me, I'm stuck on Verizon until I get rid of my ~$1100 in ETFs, plus the LTE is fantastic around here. It's nothing to pull 16 Mbps down.

Ez decision. Big red robs you and make you think you like it. Pay the money upfront for the phone and get your tmob plan to make it back in the short and long term.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Well you get what you pay for.
$30 vs. $80.
5-7 mbps vs. 20+mbps
100 minutes vs. 450 minutes
unlimited text vs. 0 text
Is the $50 premium worth it? Do you really need more than 7mbps down? I would say no unless you are tethering. GSM HSDPA+ is perfectly fine for a phone. Nobody needs 20mbps to stream media of any kind.

You wanna be the tortoise or the hare? Lol

I was in the same boat on AT&T after having been bitten by the iPhone 4S bug. After a few weeks, I totally realized I never should have bought it. Battery life is great and all and the apps are well designed, but there is something about having the same phone as my mother that rubs me the wrong way. Verizon's LTE is mighty tempting as well and even though we just launched a few LTE devices on AT&T, none of them caught my eye.
I ultimately decided to go with importing since my monthly bill would be lower with my work discount. LTE is great, but I can't imagine doing anything with it that I can't do on AT&T's HSPA network. Plus with how the launch of this phone has gone, I didn't want to take the risk that this would be Verizon's first and last Nexus phone. Hopefully AT&T does decided to launch an LTE version of the Nexus in the next six months. If not I'll just wait for the next Nexus....

I would also add... if you plan to travel outside of north america get the gsm phone, cdma doesn't work outside of North America (ok china and india?)
also. i've been using tmobile and not at&t which is awesome where I live. (~9mbit/s down). I cannot speak to the battery usage of LTE, but I hear its terrible
I say go with GSM
(note CDMA/LTE version is slightly heavier [15g] and thicket [0.5mm])

It was easy for me.
Got the imported GN. Went into AT&T store renew my contract by getting a iphone 4S for 200 hoping that I would be able to sell it for 500+ on ebay etc. That would help me cover some of damage that importing GN did to my bank. lol.

FastMhz said:
You wanna be the tortoise or the hare? Lol
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Please explain what you can do on the LTE network that is impossible on a 7mbps+ HSDPA+ connection?
I use slingbox, tunein radio and SiriusXM without a hiccup.
How would Verizon make this stream better??
These outrageous LTE speeds only benefit users if you are tethering to download an .iso or something. Outside of that, it's marketing gold.
Discuss.

If I get the verizon lte model I may actually get the Big old Cheese during a wootoff for once with the better speeds and ping.

All of these posted speeds are nice, assuming that for both AT&T and Verizon provides the same level of coverage and network performance as promised. Even though my area is in HSDPA+, AT&T service is crap and isn't worth a damn during peaks times when I need to use my phone. I'd be lucky to get 1MB down if that.

fr4c said:
All of these posted speeds are nice, assuming that for both AT&T and Verizon provides the same level of coverage and network performance as promised. Even though my area is in HSDPA+, AT&T service is crap and isn't worth a damn during peaks times when I need to use my phone. I'd be lucky to get 1MB down if that.
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This is *exactly* the problem. Here are my AT&T HSPA+ speeds on my GSM Galaxy Nexus:
From my house -- 5 mb/s
From random place in the west part of the city -- 10 mb/s
From downtown at 10 PM -- 5 mb/s
BUT, from downtown during the business day, when it matters -- 0.5 mb/s
It's what I call the football game effect. At a football game, AT&T phones get basically zero service, whereas Verizon's CDMA network is capable of normal speeds. Downtown has that same issue during the day, as will any crowded area (shopping mall, etc).
This is the reason why I'm likely going to switch to Verizon if they ever release the phone. Enjoying LTE has less to do with the crazy 50 mb/s speeds than it does with enjoying reasonable speeds even in crowded areas. I'll still keep the GSM phone for international travel, though.

I wanted a GSM device and I didn't want anything a carrier had a chance to mess with. This meant importing. Yeah, I paid about $750, but it was worth it. I get updates prompt from Google, I don't worry about carrier apps that can't be uninstalled, I can change phones whenever I want without having to call or get permission from my carrier, and I'm stuck on AT&T for a while anyway.
I'm very happy with my purchase. Honestly, with the VZW one, you'll be tied in to a contract anyway. You'll end up paying more than the phone's cost over that time regardless. The GSM import is just more up front. And if you can get WiFi fairly often, then it's worth it to go with the cheaper plan.
Also, to reply to the poster above me: I haven't had any issues with speed in Boston on AT&T. It seems pretty consistent. Maybe your area is more of a problem area? I know a lot of people hate on AT&T, but I've found their network to be quite stable.

Verizon and Android phones...

Never really thought about Verizon but I'm to the point were I've had it with sprints ****ty service, so i got a few questions im a little hesitant about jumping to Verizon since their Android lineup seems lackluster (getting the nexus but probably only for a year then would get another phone) anybody hear anything about them acquiring better Android phones in the future, also been to the development section an don't see much activity going on for the LTE version any reason for this? Maybe due to how new it is? Any comments about Verizon as a service provider would be welcome also...

In my opinion, Verizon gets a pretty good lineup of phones. The Galaxy Nexus, Rezound, Razr, etc. As far as a carrier, very expensive but you get what you pay for.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Verizon gets pretty good Android handsets IMO.
I just recently moved one of my AT&T lines to Verizon. Prior to that I was with Sprint. Sprint's data speeds were horrendous in my area and EVERY area in traveled too. I can't even imagine what its like after the Iphone release. Voice was always good on Sprint. AT&T's data blew sprint out of the water. Verizon is as good if not quite as fast 3g wise as AT&T but its incredibly reliable. 4g is blazing. 3g speeds are usually 1 - 1.8mbs on Verizon 3g. 4g pushes 15mbs. AT&T's 3g was anywhere from 800k to 4mbs. Verizon is definitely more stable and works in more places.
Both are leaps and bounds better than Sprint. Also with Sprints $10 premium add on its the same price as Verizon if you use Google voice or another data type service for texting. Which is what I do and saves me the $20 a month. I don't need many minutes since if I get low I can use google voice and GrooveIP for free minutes. Once its set up and configured it works great even over 3g.
In other words, jump ship the grass is greener. Sprint's service has taken a dump the last few years and they run a serious risk of bankruptcy before they can put all the spectrum they have to any real use. They have made one mistake after another after another for a long time now.

The LTE roms are on another site mostly.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Thanks a lot guys ^^ its really between getting the LTE nexus or GSM on tmo, an whats the deal with the litte dev support for the LTE version?
*what site josh...?

i moved from AT&T to Verizon and havent looked back, love my GN, but other phones are respectable too,RAZR,REZOUND are good phones too depending on youre tastes

Rootzwiki, but if you have the choice, get the GSM version.. much better battery life.

Cool, thanks guys great input, how much better battery we talking about?

carlost24 said:
Cool, thanks guys great input, how much better battery we talking about?
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Significant amount. LTE is quite the battery drain. All depending on use patterns of course.

martonikaj said:
Significant amount. LTE is quite the battery drain. All depending on use patterns of course.
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It's really not that bad. I mean if you hammer it on LTE it will drain quicker than usual but it's not this destroyer of batteries that people make it out to be.

while LTE may destroy ur battery, u can always turn it off till u need it. there is plenty of dev support for the LTE version, and verizon's network coverage destroys all other three carriers put together.
also.. if u are going to pay for a data plan anyways, might as well enjoy the subsidy.

carlost24 said:
whats the deal with the litte dev support for the LTE version?
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The GSM version works on all providers in all countries all over the earth. The LTE version works on one provider, in one country.
I think the GSM-model simply has what you may refer to as a "immensely much bigger user-base" and hence more developers than what's when you look at the cold, hard facts, is basically a carrier-phone, available on one carrier only.

If you travel out of the country often get GSM. Otherwise get the LTE model. People wanna make LTE out to be some battery black hole but its not. Sprint vs vzw is no contest. Verizon 3g is actually usable and 4g knocks my socks off. It maintains 25 megs on a heavily loaded network and gives me 50+ when its lightly loaded. Honestly development is not really a problem for me because ICS is so good.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Buff McBigstuff said:
If you travel out of the country often get GSM. Otherwise get the LTE model. People wanna make LTE out to be some battery black hole but its not. Sprint vs vzw is no contest. Verizon 3g is actually usable and 4g knocks my socks off. It maintains 25 megs on a heavily loaded network and gives me 50+ when its lightly loaded. Honestly development is not really a problem for me because ICS is so good.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
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I can't seem to get above 7 anywhere in Denver. Any chance its my phone?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

mark manning said:
I can't seem to get above 7 anywhere in Denver. Any chance its my phone?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
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It's going to vary largely due to many factors. What's your signal strength, how many other people are using 4G in your area, etc...
I was traveling through Baltimore, MD and was managing only 12 MBPS with 1 bar of signal strength on New Years Eve, which honestly, is easily more than enough for anything. Keep in mind, as time goes on, more people get 4G phones, and use them more, available bandwidth is going to go down anyway. I don't understand why people think they should get 20 MBPS anyway....what are you going to do? If you don't have an unlimited plan, what's the point? You'll use up the small amount of data allotment that you have so quick you'll never even know it.

Thanks guys i think i shall pick up the LTE tomorrow...

carlost24 said:
Never really thought about Verizon but I'm to the point were I've had it with sprints ****ty service, so i got a few questions im a little hesitant about jumping to Verizon since their Android lineup seems lackluster (getting the nexus but probably only for a year then would get another phone) anybody hear anything about them acquiring better Android phones in the future, also been to the development section an don't see much activity going on for the LTE version any reason for this? Maybe due to how new it is? Any comments about Verizon as a service provider would be welcome also...
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I left Sprint for Verizon 3 months ago, and the extra cost is well worth it - it's like having a landline in my pocket.
As far as your assessment of the Android phone lineup, I'm not sure where you're coming from. I think they have a great lineup, although certainly it's slanted toward the Motorola line. With Google buy Motorola mobility, that should end up being a very good thing.
I also don't think they meddle with the phones nearly as much as ATT does - but I have no direct experience with ATT, just what my friends tell me.

I don't know about all your guys' locations but I live in Mesa, AZ (it is about 30 min from downtown Phoenix). I get VERY slow LTE in the city. Even with 2 bars I get ~5 down and 5 up. As far as signal strength, it isn't much different to any other 4G phones I have used. I get no data in my school's basement and the phone always seems to drop the data service. This morning I had 1X until I restarted the device. At a small town in east AZ, Verizon is the only one with data service, but it is VERY!!!! slow. 3G in Phoenix area is about .8 down (on a good day).

Was hesitant due to what im hearing about battery life on LTE, but i guess I'll deal with battery issue since i do want the 32gig option an I'm hearing nothing but good things about Verizon, any other differences between LTE an GSM version?

I drop Sprint and made the switch to Verizon. I had nothing but network problems on Sprint, crappy speed on 3g/4g network. But one thing I can say is once you make the switch to an LTE phone you’ll never go back to regular 3g/4g service! is like going from DVD to bluray.

Verizon Nexus users, I have a few questions about service etc.

Im going to be coming from Sprint to possibly verizon. I was wondering a few things
1. How is the service? I get BAD 3g speeds ( around .5mb ) and 4g is decent whenever I can get it ( 5mb or so ). Whats their average 3g and 4g speeds?
2. What about phones? Im coming from the Evo and its still considered a top contender with the new phones that are out there now. I dont want an iphone, Id like to stay android. Any phones out there that are pretty good? How is the nexus? Anything better? Anything worth waiting for?
Any and all help is appreciated.

My signal is great. I can pull about 2 mbps down with 3G and average 15-20 mbps down with 4G. Occasionally I can hit 30 mbps. I would recommend the Nexus if you want an all around great phone. The Razr Maxx would be a second choice if you absolutely need the extra battery life.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA

TeeRom said:
My signal is great. I can pull about 2 mbps down with 3G and average 15-20 mbps down with 4G. Occasionally I can hit 30 mbps. I would recommend the Nexus if you want an all around great phone. The Razr Maxx would be a second choice if you absolutely need the extra battery life.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
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+1. The signal is always strong. I have about the same with 3g, 4g about 10-12 down. The customer service is amazing as well. I came from the HTC incredible to the GNex and I love this phone. It's got everything I need. Takes a toll on the battery but whatev.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

i have been with every carrier exept at&t in the past month and verizon is the best
sprint was my carrier for a year and the 3g was abysmal but what made it worse is there is no 4 g in phoenix

With Verizon 3G DL's average .4 - .5mb, 4G depending on location, ranges between 1mb (rare) to 25mb in saturated areas (for me averaging 8-16mb). As far as phones with VZ, 1.) Galaxy Nexus. 2.) HTC Rezound 3.) Moto Razr 4.) LG Spectrum. All of which blow any Evo out of the water in both hardware and performance. Sprint sucks
Sent from GNexus w/AOKP & franco.kernel

Depends on your location. Had sprint since I was in 4th grade now in college. Switched to Verizon with my family and where we used to get not even 200kbps with sprint we get 27mb 4G in Tucson. On my sisters 3G iPhone she gets 2-3mb.
Just costs more but you do get what you pay for . Service. Thus far I have never lost service on Verizon's network but was always in fringe areas it seemed on Sprint.
Took a trip to Yuma to head to Mexico for some cheap work on replacing my clutch on truck had 3g all the way and streaming Sirius to my phone.
IMO Verizon is worth it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Was a ten year sprint customer and left if 3 reasons.
Their 4g wimax is dead and in process of switching to Lte. So any phone you buy with wimax is already antiquated.
I sometimes would get good signal but the speeds sucked on both 3 and 4g(when you could find it) and my house happens to be in a spotty area when it shouldn't be.
every phone they have out now is just a rehashed evo.
I knew made the right change when i drove over bridge in my area (daily commute), where I would always drop calls, and not only did I not drop but my 4g was 2 bars. I pretty much get 4g everywhere now.

I suggest going to your local VZW store and running speed tests. I've seen "3G" pull down 80Kbps, and I've seen it pull down 1.4 megs. I've seen LTE range from 6 megs to 40 megs.
Device wise, if you want to tinker, get the GNex. Ignore all the blithering whining that completely over runs this place. There's nothing wrong with the device. If you don't want to tinker, I'd look at the Rezound and the Razr Maxx. My personal preferences:
1) GNex
2) Rezound
3) Razr Maxx
They're all really good devices. Play with them all and grab up the one you like the best.

One more thing... Expect your bill on vzw to be about twenty dollars more than sprint; worth it in my opinion.

Thanks all. I did the comparison and I'll get less data and less mintues for around the same price
Here is the break down. With sprint I have 2 phones ( so right off the bat, there is a 10$ per phone smartphone charge them tack on ; think 20 bucks here ) add a line for 9.99, 1800 mins ( free mobile to mobile, text, MMS, SMS ) unlimited data ( at SLOW ****ING speeds... )
I used a grand total ( between two phones ) around 80 mins. And that was mostly mobile to mobile. The landline minutes were like 30 mins.
With Verizon I would get 4gb per phone, FASTER speeds, 700 mins ( free verizon to verizon, but no others ) 30 bucks for unlimited sms mms etc etc.. all for around the same price. Im a data user mostly, so that is what pushes me around. I cannot do sprint anymore.

The Verizon service is excellent. I love the phone but it has 2 major issues. Data dropping and the loss of outbound audio bug, which is the worst bug I've ever experienced on a phone. Hopefully a software update will fix those issues.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

wow that would be a potential game changer. I need to mess with my android devices, and I would like to have the nexus versus the moto. But no one has seen a fix for those issues? Guess its a prominent bug out there?

3g is meh. 4g I get between 10-22. Just buy the galaxy nexus.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

yeah well my 3g speeds are .5-.7 on average... haha Im hoping verizon is better than that.

mroneeyedboh said:
yeah well my 3g speeds are .5-.7 on average... haha Im hoping verizon is better than that.
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Will depend on Area. Don't expect Verizon's 3G to be drastically faster than that.

mmmm dammit haha. I thought verizon was one of the if not the fastest like 3-5mb on 3g and around 20 or so on 4g.

mroneeyedboh said:
mmmm dammit haha. I thought verizon was one of the if not the fastest like 3-5mb on 3g and around 20 or so on 4g.
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The theoretical max speeds for EVDO rev A are only 3.1mbps down / 800kbps up. And those aren't real world. Expect the low 2mbps range at most.
CDMA carriers have atrocious 3G speeds compared to GSM carriers. UMTS beats EVDO easily, HSPA even more-so.
This is why you're seeing Verizon push LTE so hard, because it gives them the speed advantage again. It also offers them simultaneous voice + data, and the eventual move to VoLTE.
Honestly, I'd personally rather have 8mbps all the time on HSPA+ than 1.5mbps sometimes and 20mbps other times.

mroneeyedboh said:
mmmm dammit haha. I thought verizon was one of the if not the fastest like 3-5mb on 3g and around 20 or so on 4g.
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I don't even think 3G supports those speeds. In the few weeks I have been with Verizon I have seen in bad area's with low signal hit around 200-500kbs. In these area's Sprint would be around 30kbs, lol. In good area's where Sprint would get .500kbs-.700kbs I pull about 1.5 - 2mbs on Verizon. I do get 4G all over with Verizon as well as Sprint would be in and out all over the place...
It was great to be at the malls food court tonight and play a HD Youtube video of Yo Gabba Gabba for my son to keep him busy. Verizon's 4G in most places is faster then my home internet.
As far as the phone, the GN is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better then the EVO. I have owned the EVO, EVO 3D and the Epic 4G Touch. The only phone in the same league is the Epic 4G Touch but the GN just has cooler things going for it that make me not miss my E4GT.
As far as dropped data goes, it looks like more of a bad batch of phones. My first GN would drop 4G constantly. I got a replacement and this one never drops data. Keeps 4G consistently. I also haven't had a problem with calls as others have mentioned.
I do not think any other phone on Verizon offers what the GN does but other devices I would would fall right below in line would be the Rezound and Razr Maxx.
For the GN, make sure to buy the extended battery as you will need it. Verizon online has it on sale for $24.99 and it barely makes the device and larger then stock. I would aslo suggest ordering the phone from Amazon as they sell it for $99 and their customer service rocks!

Ahh okay so AT&T hs faster speeds with the HSPA versus EVDO cdma 3g? Then its a no brainer to go with AT&T if I want faster speeds..

martonikaj said:
The theoretical max speeds for EVDO rev A are only 3.1mbps down / 800kbps up. And those aren't real world. Expect the low 2mbps range.
CDMA carriers have atrocious 3G speeds compared to GSM carriers. UMTS beats EVDO easily, HSPA even more-so.
This is why you're seeing Verizon push LTE so hard, because it gives them the speed advantage again. It also offers them simultaneous voice + data, and the eventual move to VoLTE.
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That's true. CDMA 3g technology speeds is considerably slower in relation to 3g speeds on a GSM network...... However, CDMA Technology does provide a more stable and reliable network with far fewer dropped calls. That is one of the reasons why Verizon is consistently rated #1 in the US year after year. In the past, it was a trade off (slower data for better reliability). Today, the fact that Verizon has the only real 4G LTE network infrastructure makes the decision now a no-brainer.
Sent from GNexus w/AOKP & franco.kernel

No LTE for Tmobile S3

Just read an article that T-Mobile S3 won't be compatible with its LTE network in 2013.... this frustrates me so much considering the higher price for tmobile version.. why do tmobile users always ripped off? I have tmobile and want this phone but now there's no LTE support, do you think it's still worth it? (considering i won't have LTE on this phone for 2 yrs....
http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/06/t-mobile-samsung-galaxy-s3-skips-lte-party/

Are you really considering keeping this phone for more than a year?? by the time LTE is all ready to go this phone will be a dinosaur!

lol im planning to do a 2 yr upgrade....

huggosz said:
Are you really considering keeping this phone for more than a year?? by the time LTE is all ready to go this phone will be a dinosaur!
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This plus the phone is already reaching insane downloads speeds, even beating AT&T LTE. Look it up on YouTube.
Don't worry my friend. You will be just fine.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA

yea you really dont need the lte.

I really don't think it is a big deal. First of all, LTE won't be ready for a year and chances are once they start it up it will be at least another year before they have a large coverage in most markets.
Second of all, TMobile's HSPA+ network is plenty fast enough. My typical speedtest results are at least 5 Mb/s and have been as high as 18.6 Mb/s.
Third, anything more than about 3 Mb/s is just bragging rights anyways. When do you really get consistent download speeds greater than 3 Mb/s from anywhere? Plus even if you did get more than that you'd blow through your 5 GB data cap in less than 4 hours.

moshe22 said:
This plus the phone is already reaching insane downloads speeds, even beating AT&T LTE. Look it up on YouTube.
Don't worry my friend. You will be just fine.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA
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+1
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

I've been in this situation for several years now with Sprint. 4G was never implemented in my area and now LTE is replacing the 4G. I've got (3) 4G capable phones from Sprint but I never got to use the 4G. Lol.

yea but atleast with tmo u can get 5mbps consistantly

it's not great because tmobile costumers are paying more for the phone and getting less out of it. this, combined with worse coverage does nothing to make tmobile an appealing option. For all practical purposes though, i'm still fine with it because I get 11mbps consistently in areas with tmobiles HSPA+ coverage, which has expanded from last year. I live in manhattan and tmobile has given me pretty consistant speeds all around the metro area. It hasn't been perfect all the time, but 95% of the time I'm looking at 3-6 mbps on my vibrant and 6-12 mbps on my gnex.

I don't know why people really need lte speeds I'm downloading 10 to 15mbps t-mobile on a good night I have reached to 17mbps....
Sent from my SGH-T999 using XDA

Does not having lte even make a difference?

Hi everyone, I've got a small question to ask.
I've been reading reviews about all the different North American bound GSIII's, and I have noticed that while the "maximum theoritical speed" of lte is around double that of hspda+, there isn't really a difference in usability .
I mean to say, when you use the phone, it is blazing fast right? Not gimped :victory:
I'm about to get it on a Canadian Carrier that uses AWS, and was wondering if I should spring for the lte, non AWS version.
Thanks in advance
(sorry if this isn't even a question )

Of course it makes a difference. It means the battery will last a fair amount longer.

IMO HSPA+ is good enough. You won't notice the real world difference between the two, given that you have enough HSPA coverage. LTE is a newer technology but as I've heard it drains battery too quick. I'd prefer a longer battery life with decent speeds throughout a day than to have the phone die on me more quickly just to boast a faster speed that I probably won't notice.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

stevessvt said:
Of course it makes a difference. It means the battery will last a fair amount longer.
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jaygajay said:
IMO HSPA+ is good enough. You won't notice the real world difference between the two, given that you have enough HSPA coverage. LTE is a newer technology but as I've heard it drains battery too quick. I'd prefer a longer battery life with decent speeds throughout a day than to have the phone die on me more quickly just to boast a faster speed that I probably won't notice.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
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I agree with both. Wish T-Mobile wouldn't be putting time and money towards lte. It's already faster than Verizon. Even on my aosp ROM which doesn't get the full speeds it blew away Verizon lte using the speed test app.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

Skype and stuff would be clearer on LTE of course, but with a strong 4g signal it is pretty fast. Most people crab about bandwidth, but in all reality most people never use near all of it. On a phone getting 15 or 20 meg you can do anything. What does LTE speed test at?
I know when I had Verizon my battery would go super fast on LTE.

jjlean said:
Skype and stuff would be clearer on LTE of course, but with a strong 4g signal it is pretty fast. Most people crab about bandwidth, but in all reality most people never use near all of it. On a phone getting 15 or 20 meg you can do anything. What does LTE speed test at?
I know when I had Verizon my battery would go super fast on LTE.
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When I had Verizon in Chicago I would speed test around 30-40mbps. Sure it's cool to see big numbers, but it isn't a huge deal.
LTE is a bit gentler on battery these days as well. My friend's S3 gets pretty good battery life on Verizon but he also has amazing LTE coverage where he is.
Sent from my SGH-T999

There are other improvements in LTE other than raw speed, such as latency, air interface, architecture, etc. Granted HSPA is an improvement over standard UMTS, and actually can provide plenty of raw bandwidth for most applications, if implemented properly. Some of the architectural changes are already, at least partially, implemented in HSPA.
With that said, I have never found myself regretting not having LTE (on T-Mobile) over HSPA. I get 10Mb down easily and sometimes more in my area (DC Metro). I imagine LTE is faster in this area in terms of raw speed, but I don't really care. I will take the better battery life and simultaneous data/voice any day over that extra data speed at this point in time. I actually think that the way T-Mobile is going about the upgrade makes a lot of technical sense. Granted the CDMA carriers were at a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to implementing LTE (frequencies aside). Since LTE is actually in the GSM family, sharing some standards and concepts with those descendants, they have had to implement more of a hybrid system.
Bottom line - I think HSPA is a much better trade off for speed, functionality, battery, etc. at this point in time than LTE is. I wouldn't worry about not having LTE in the GS3 at this time. I think that by the time T-Mobile gets their LTE network up and running in most major areas, the next generation phones will be here. If you are into marketing hype, by all means go for LTE now. If you are more into real world results, then don't worry about it, and be happy with HSPA for now.
LTE is a bit gentler on battery these days as well.
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True, and that will only improve over time, just as early UMTS/HSPA implementations did. Early LTE chipsets really had horrendous battery life, to the point of severely limiting the usefulness of LTE. I actually think 2013 will be a good year for LTE adoption. T-Mobile is right on schedule, they just have to fight that marketing battle.

I still prefer HSPA+ 42mbps... I average 20mbps down and 3mbps up
Sent from my SGH-T999 using XDA Premium HD app

big battery drainer, stick with HSPA+

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I'll just get the AWS SIII then (not on tmobile though :victory
BTW: I didn't know lte couldn't do voice/data at the same time! )

BTW: I didn't know lte couldn't do voice/data at the same time!
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Oh no, it can. It's just the way it is implemented right now. It is not an LTE limitation.

Between T-Mobile and AT&T, T-Mobile has the best HSPA+. I can get 24Mbps in my city. So, it makes a difference of about 10Mbps, it's not a big deal when you really think about it and use it.
T-Mobile (by accident) will have the best data coverage in the future. Look at how good their HSPA+ is right now and then think about when they're finished rolling out LTE. People can get one signal or the other.
To answer your question, it matters if you and your friends are racing who can download a file the fastest. You'll lose by two seconds...

Snook321 said:
I still prefer HSPA+ 42mbps... I average 20mbps down and 3mbps up
Sent from my SGH-T999 using XDA Premium HD app
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That's what I average here in the Placerville, CA area. My friends who have Verizon LTE get pretty much the same speeds.

Last question: does lte even make a difference in battery life? I mean, if it does, is the t999's battery life slightly better than the i747's?

Last question: does lte even make a difference in battery life? I mean, if it does, is the t999's battery life slightly better than the i747's?
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Yes, it does if you have it on. The reason being that LTE radios and chips are not as mature as HSPA implementations. It was the same situation with the move from GSM to UMTS. Remember the first iPhone didn't have 3G primarily because of battery drain on 3G networks. The situation quickly improved, as it will/is with LTE.
So, I would say the battery life in the T999 would be better than the i747 if you actually use LTE on the latter. That is just an educated guess though. By how much, I don't know, but I imagine it would be measurable. Might want to ask on the i747 forum about their battery life. It might not be a big deal.

redhooka said:
That's what I average here in the Placerville, CA area. My friends who have Verizon LTE get pretty much the same speeds.
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What's the difference in your bills if you don't mind me asking?

T-Mobile customer since Voicestream days, so I'm a loyal customer
Here's my personal experience.
I have a Verizon LTE Mifi. One day I was sitting in Portland air port waiting for a flight. Bored, I started to surf the net. 15 minutes in, I remember thinking to myself, WOW, T-Mobile is fast today! Then I saw my wifi icon is lit, and realized that I have forgotten to turn off my Mifi, and I was running on LTE.
So, yes, you CAN tell the difference, but when T-Mobile's 3G is running correctly though, it's not a huge difference, but certainly noticeable.
BTW, even on Verizon's slow 3G speed, I can still make Skype calls, and it worked flawlessly.

Friend of mine has at&t gs3 and he averages around 31mbps down and 20ish mbps up on LTE. The other day he got 61mbps down but only 100kbps up on one speed test. I'm perfectly happy with tmobile HSPA+ though, and have been getting exceptional battery life on just rooted stock with slight debloating.

I finally hit 12mbps in toledo last night my old g2 was struggling for even 5 I thought the area just sucked but it's probably the better antennas in this s3. My wifi does 15 so im happy with this. When I go to bigger cities like Chicago and nyc I know I'll get at least 20 so I could care less for lte. Even with lte ur not constantly getting 40 or so mbps that's just the peak of ur speed
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

otariq said:
I finally hit 12mbps in toledo last night my old g2 was struggling for even 5 I thought the area just sucked but it's probably the better antennas in this s3. My wifi does 15 so im happy with this. When I go to bigger cities like Chicago and nyc I know I'll get at least 20 so I could care less for lte. Even with lte ur not constantly getting 40 or so mbps that's just the peak of ur speed
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
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Correct. The G2 is only capable of 21mbps while the s3 is capable of 42mbps. I haven't been able to get over 15 in Chicago though on CM10
Sent from my SGH-T999