yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] k.electron:
when i say phone i mean, call some, text some, browse some, let it check some email etc... some people want to stream netflix 24/7 on lte or wifi tether to lte. yes that will drain the battery fast, but then that is the price u pay for blazing speeds. i get 20mbps+ on lte in the boston suburbs. almost as fast as my fios.

i used to be on att till i moved to new england and realized what a steaming pile of sh*t att is. constant dropped calls with 3 different phones, and the 3g died the moment i left the major cities. someone said that lte is useful only in a city that has it.. and yeah, but if u live in a small town, even more reason to go verizon because chances are atleast u will get 3g. i understand the prices of verizon are higher, but its with good reason. ive never dropped a call and had superb 3g coverage. even when i go camping/skiing and people's tmob or att doesnt even have a signal im cruising 3g. not to mention verizon tech support ranks way higher than atts.

TMO is practically dead as far as data is concerned once ur outside a big city. sure its cheaper, but they throttle data. i have the unlimited data on verizon and even after 20gb of downloads per month, its fast.

the size difference is really not an issue in any real life use case.

now the only argument i see in getting the gsm version is, if u live in a town where tmob/att are decent, never move around much and want to pay less... go for it. or buy the cheapest phone that can do hspa+ on those networks, get tether, and put the additional money to a good tablet.

on a side note: whenever i travel i decline hotel wireless charges because my phone is what keeps the internet going. its faster than hotel wireless and this is possible only because of verizons superlative coverage.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] qnet:
That's something I've noticed about Verizon, they don't throttle you. I have unlimited data also and they will let you burn it up. I guess when more people get LTE it won't be so wide open as it is now.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Tidbits:
They do "network optimization" for 3G, but have no current plans to do it for LTE in a press release which can be found on their site.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] vash1053:
I was a T-Mobile user for the last few years, up until July 1st of 2011. I switched to VZW because I wanted to get grandfathered in to unlimited data.

VZW is more expensive, there's no doubt about that. CDMA is notably less convenient than GSM. LTE does suck battery life, quite quickly I might add.

That said... LTE provides a faster connection (I average around 15-25 MbPS in Portland, OR with some specific areas being considerably faster), a more responsive connection (usually around 60-75ms to any reliable server), and a much broader connection (VZW's network is already top-notch in terms of coverage, and their LTE rollout has been no exception around here).

Overall LTE is great, and I don't think I could go back to T-Mo's lackluster coverage. But HSPA+ speeds are actually pretty decent. When I was with T-Mo, I used my Mytouch 4G to tether my computer to the internet during the Japanese tsunami of '11 (I was on vacation in Hawaii at the time). There are a lot of Japanese tourists in Waikiki, so naturally the phone lines and hotel internet were basically getting hammered to death. My phone connection let me watch the news, talk to my friends over FB, and play WoW while everyone else was struggling to even get connected to the hotel internet! Those that hadn't ran for the hills, that is. I didn't because I wanted to see a real tsunami in person. Turned out to be pretty weaksauce by the time it reached me though.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Tidbits:
You'd have a better shot at being near where the earthquake hits. Both times the currents were going against the tsunami so that's why they were weak. The day I worry about a tsunami is when the currents work with it.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] theherodrownd:
I'm sick of the bickering on the thread. Just because something works for YOU doesn't mean it is right for someone else. In Portland, OR Verizon is the better carrier out of the big 4. With that being said I don't understand peoples battery issues. I always leave 4G on and never tun mobile data off.

I get enough juice to get me through the day. Also, I use my phone as you can see by screen on time. I use a standard battery.

http://db.tt/aHvNdTxF

http://db.tt/LfhZoSq4
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] CyberPunk7t9:
and just because this battery life is enough for you.. doesn't mean it's convenient for a lot of others.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Meets34:
The GSM version is gets updates from Google not Verizon.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Tidbits:
Updates for both devices come from Google....
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] cundiffr:
GSM gets developer support from Google.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Tidbits:
So does the LTE version... Guess you didn't get the memo...
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Jayrod1980:
while I would generally agree that coverage wise Verizon is king, no way would I rather have the lte version. 3 hours screen time is an hour less than my old nexus s. I have the extended battery in my GSM galaxy nexus and I can get 5 hours hours on screen time. Probably 4.5hrs out of the standard. 3 vs 4.5 is 50% more battery life... very substantial. If Att was Verizon (GSM carrier), they would be nearly perfect. Att is a rotten company and I would gladly pay for Verizon's cost if they were a GSM carrier with the world bands att has.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] RogerPodacter:
I just have no excitement for LTE in any form. I would rather stay on hspa for the next few years with existing battery performance. They can get hspa data speeds way up there at 25 Mbps and latency at 50 ms if they wanted. Thats plenty given then better power drain profile over lte.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] milan03:
umm you should read more about the 2nd gen LTE chipsets that are due next quarter using much smaller 28nm technology and with integrated VoLTE.

Also, I'd rather have a secondary $19 battery and enjoy 72mbps on the go, than depriving myself from all rich media experience until I'm at my home computer...

It's a small price to pay for early adopters, but a huge leap forward in productivity and media experience.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] RogerPodacter:
Thats fine i have no problem if and when they get LTE chipsets more mature and power efficient. But i just think its gonna take a solid 2-3 more years before they really get mature. I'm remembering how long wcdma and hspa took to get to this level, and it took a while.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] aneftp:
Look I have currently tmobile AT&T and Verizon service. (will cancel tmobile soon). So I can offer some advice.

1. Pick whatever provider serves you best (coverage vs price).

2. Remember the vast majority of webpages/video only need 256-500 kbps to view in a timely manner.

It's obvious that ping time matter most. Not overall crazy 10mpbs-60mbps speeds I remember back in Northern Virginia I saved a fortune paying on $16.99 for 768 Kbps speed with Cox Cable vs their $40 5mpbs plan.

Saying that. The American public doesn't understand tmobiles "value" plans where one pays full price and in return get lower monthly plans I hate to say this but many Americans can't do math.

Having family members on lines also complicate the math.

If I were single, the choice is fairly obvious. Prepaid is way to go and get unsubsidzed phones.

However when one needs to add 3-4 other lines, prepaid isn't a great option especially if you don't need all those cellular minutes.

And Sprint isn't even "cheap" if u want to mix and match 2 smartphones with 2 dumb phones because you end up paying a $20 premium to add data to dumphones AT&T doesn't require.

Getting back to speed. Tmobile HSPA plus is very fast. They usually have lower ping times than AT&T for me. I routinely hit 8-10mpbs in Orlando. I hit 6mpbs with my AT&T HSPA phones on AT&T network.

Verizon I get between 500kbps-2mbps. Usually average around 1-1.5mpbs in Orlando. Frankly I don't see any real differences surfing my favorite webpages on my phones. Sites like espn, CNN. Si, msnbc, Engadget, cnet etc all pad very quickly LTE, HSPA, or CDMA.

Now HQ YouTube video is where LTE has its major advantage. But I don't watch YouTube videos that much.

To each there own.

At the end of the day. Overall cellular speeds won't make much difference for real time webpages. Coverage and pricing ultimately determine which way to go.

LTE is a battery drainer if you use it a lot. That's true. 2.5 hours LTE Netflix streaming and my nexus is dead.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] awong12:
my friend said that the lte version is such a battery killer that he needs to use an external battery to keep it charged. he try to find an extended battery on amazon but so far no luck
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] milan03:
Just get it on Verizonwireless site. It's $25 after 50% instant saving... It's been there forever...
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Tidbits:
Unless you live in a poor reception area the LTE barely drains the battery...

The screen drains the most. Then if you stream music whether over LTE or 3G it makes almost 0 difference from what I have seen with my bone stock nexus...
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Jayrod1980:
Unless you have a razr maxx no lte phone has long enough battery life for me. Not a knock against Verizon, just the technology. My dads nexus is pitiful compared to my GSM one. I was on base in DC yesterday where no phone gets great service (all the antennas and sat links etc) with one bar and after 5 hours my nexus was still at 95% on standby. I live in an lte area and the Verizon nexus is lucky to get half my standby time, and you already know how little on screen time it gets. Even with lte off, just whatever interference that radio has makes lte phones poor battery performers, at least with my experience with Verizon. The thunderbolt, bionic, nexus, they all are pretty poor.

To the guy with the Verizon 4g avatar, I don't get at all why you would trade half the battery life to get a 75mbps "mobile experience." Tethering is the absolute only reason to have that, so unless you have grandfathered unlimited data... you get to burn through your limit at lightning speed. As the above poster noted, with good ping there's virtually no difference in loading times for a normal website.

I'm off contract right now, and I'll be looking to see if any of these new lte radios change things. When you said 28nm chip sets, it sounds like you are talking about SOCs. If that's the case its not going to change the power draw of the antenna, just the CPU and gpu draw. Those are already pretty good.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] milan03:
Battery is easily swappable. It's $25. What's a big fuss about it?! LTE chipsets are in it's infancy, they're still 1st gen and power hungry. We are the early adopters, and have been enjoying unlimited LTE for more than a year.

Extra $25 is a small price to pay for unlimited LTE and endless rich media experience that includes anything you'd wait till you get home to do on your computer and broadband connection...
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] illcat2000:
I don't know what's so hard about just turning mobile data off when not in use. I turn it on when I need it. I'm at 12 + hours off a charge with 45% battery left. And I've been connected to wifi since I got home at 2. Some people will whine and complain no mater what.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
... up to 2GB cap. or 4GB if you're lucky. (don't wanna hear about ur grandfathered unlimited data plan, new subs cant get it).

But again. Remember you're on a phone. What can you do with 40mb/s that you can't with 10mb/s?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] kolyan:
Mobile data off..... I am syncing GV sms, voice mails, gmail, news, weather, and ton of other ****
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] kolyan:
this is funny because I actually have a 4 cyl. " ferrari"..... its called S2000 and I love it.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Don't think this is an apt analogy. The way you're putting it, you're saying that a 4 cylinder engine (HSPA+) is too slow. But you know that it isn't. HSPA+ at about 10mb/s is pretty damn fast.

Not to mention that you have to look at the downside of the original Ferrari engine (you ignore this fact), which gives you 10 miles to the gallon (aka your battery is dead. fast.).

But whatever. Its not like this argument isn't being made in every other thread on this forum....
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] sstang2006:
Verizon has better coverage and higher speed than any other company. It is also the most expensive off all.

Nexus LTE uses more battery which you can turn off with a single click when you are not using it. It also has twice the memory of the GSM version.

OP, you should look at the facts and not personal opinions. If what you are looking for is a lower monthly bill and you are fine with the coverage and speed in your area, 16gb of storage is fine with you and no insurance on it, then T-Mobile is for you.

If you want speed and quality then prepare to pay.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] player911:
You can disable 4G to save battery. I get 20mbps+ down here with LTE or about 2-4mb on just 3G.

I agree, why have LTE on all the time? Its like wifi, yea you'll get faster speeds but I don't need it on when I'm not using it.

I got about 2-4mb on tmobiles 4G in my city, Cincinnati OH, but have seen it hit 11mb in other cities. So Verizon 3G is fine for me.

LTE Google Galaxy Nexus! - Stock

Asus Transformer - OC/UV
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ajftl:
Then you should it buy a none LTE phone. I find that very stupid. People turning lte off. Wth! Anyway I have both lol gsm and cdma. I have to sell gsm but still not sure. Gsm looks sexier no doubt. And the black areas around the screen are very black on the gsm. The cdma black areas on screen r not as black as the gsm. Anyway. That's not a big deal but yes gsm thinner and sexier u can see the concave more. Anyway. I'm using the extended battery since Thursday. So its been recharge a few times. Today its been better than Thursday and yesterday. But I've using wifi a lot too. When using lte only all day it really drain it.

I only pay 70 Buck with tmo 5gig ....better deal than vz
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ccpotato:
in houston, my friends LTE is 40/13 everywhere.

my GSM with TM is 11/3 ... which is plenty fine.. except in many places it gets stuck on EDGE which is slow as **** ... literally 50kb/10kb or similar
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] predation:
this is going to turn into a vzw fanboi vs everyone else thread.. lol
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] mb02:
Did you really just compare an Italian supercar to a Japanese econobox? You own the Miata of Honda, not a 4 cylinder Ferrari
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] nxdu:
Specs talk:

At its peak, HSPA+ can hit 168Mb/s

LTE can hit 300Mb/s, uses the same infrastructure with LTE Advanced

LTE Advanced (not yet available) theoretically can hit 1Gb/s
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] tryceo:
Lte is not really that fast... It has the potential to be fast, but Verizon will limit the download speed anyways so it is really not that fast. I get maybe 4 mbits download and 1 upload.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Gilbot:
You guys know you can buy a 2nd battery, right? Or an extended battery... or you could turn off LTE ...

I don't get what the big deal is.

LTE will drain my battery? oh well thems the breaks! Good thing I have a spare battery to swap if it dies or gets low.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Snorkumler:
To the OP, glad you finally came to a decision. I seriously think the LTE is great. Had I not have been with at&t already, I would have gone with the LTE version as well.

The man has spoke, so let him be

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Definitely not going to carry 2 batteries just so I can use my phone all day lol

---------- Post added at 12:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:07 AM ----------

Every thread in this forum does...
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] nrfitchett4:
cdma for me runs about 1mbps. LTE runs about 10-20 mbps. My biggest problem with t mobile was reception. I would have close to no reception at work. The higher frequency bands do not penetrate as well.

I agree that if t mobile works for you, stick it out. I do enjoy true unlimited data on Verizon though.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] nrfitchett4:
Not that fast?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] wonshikee:
LTE isn't really necessary for smartphones, however, if you're on VZ, it's helluva lot better than the alternative (3G). You can't really say **** like, why would you need LTE when HSPA+ is plenty - because you can't have HSPA+ on VZ. I don't get why this is so hard for people to comprehend.

Not everyone wants to switch out of VZ because it has the best coverage and they might have other perks - like corporate discount and/or family/grandfathered plan.

On a direct comparison, HSPA+ pro is battery life and being able to make an appointment on your anniversary while talking to your finance. LTE is faster - too fast IMO. Then again, it's not all about smartphones, on a tablet/hotspot modem, I would definitely prefer LTE over H+ speed.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] kolyan:
I would LOVE to get some input from Verizon customers in Boston area....

ps. I just realized that if i switch to CDMA ......i cant use voice and data at the same time....and if I wanna switch to LTE while in call.....wouldnt i loose signal ?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Raspster:
Lets not forget that HSPA+, at least for AT&T uses the 850 band and I must say, this band cuts thru most building like butter. I know the LTE is 700 but the truth remains that your LTE signal will drop in a building. Maybe to the point where your battery and of coarse, data speeds are affected. Just sayin.. :)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] cundiffr:
That's what I was thinking...

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] kolyan:
so can anyone tell me if switching LTE on/off results in looking signal like on gsm phones switching between 2g and 3g ?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] emuneee:
What? If 850MHz propagates well through buildings, then the 700MHz propagates through buildings even better all things being equal. And AT&T doesn't have 850MHz licenses everywhere, so in a lot of places, such as the entire state of NC, AT&T uses the 1900MHz band for 3G.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] melterx12:
you're telling me you get 10mbps on t-mobile? My friend gets only 5 AT BEST where we live.

I don't understand why everyone is complaining about battery life. VZW has 3G as well. If you need more battery life turn off 4G when you don't need it and you will get battery life that will be better than the HSPA+ version of the Galaxy Nexus (since the LTE version has a slightly larger battery).
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] xxprodigyxx11:
This is at around 3am standing outside.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] dbnaruto:
I am an Alltel convert to Verizon and I'm on a family plan with a grandfathered unlimited plan, plus I love Verizon's coverage. I will say, LTE is a cruel mistress. The first night I had it, my family went out to look at Christmas lights and I used 4G the whole time while plugged into the Car charger. My battery (very slowly) drained faster than it could charge XD.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
I average around 7mbps mid-day. Best case scenarios late at night I pull over 10.

And man, VZW 3G is atrocious though (like what, maybe 1mbps?). And I would hate to manually be turning 4G on and off just to keep my phone alive. Dealt with that on my Evo4G on Sprint (bought it day 1). Hated having to manage it.

I completely understand the predicament that VZW customers are being put in. Your 3G sucks, so you're forced to deal with 4G battery life just to get decent speeds. Its unfortunate, because if you had fast consistent 3G (like T-Mo and AT&T) then you wouldn't be clamoring for LTE. Everyone knows that LTE is overkill, but its the step that VZW took because they can't go on with these terrible 3G data speeds. They launched LTE before its real-world ready.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ccpotato:
tmobile

you can see the 1 EDGE result
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] kolyan:
tested Nexus at Verizon store in Boston area. one cdma HTC pulled only 700kb, nexus on 3g pulled 1.5mb 10 minutes later. LTE was obviously impressive with over 20mb. my nexus one on 3g pulled 3mb at the same location. and I can also confirm that switching between LTE and cdma kills service for about 15-20 sec
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Drzfr3shboialex:
How do you have so much battery lol. I want to know for when I get my GN
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] nyijedi:
I have the GSM one on T-Mobile and my wife just got the LTE one on Verizon. A few observations:

1) The extra thickness is noticeable, and the thin GSM one is nicer, but it's by no means a huge deal.

2) The LTE one has frozen once and rebooted once in 2 days of ownership. The GSM one has given me no such problems. We uninstalled a few apps that automatically got restored from her old phone, and are hoping the problems were from one of them.

3) 4G has the potential to be really fast, but I'm still not a fan. We get 20 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up at our apartment, which is insane, but we barely get any 4G service anywhere else. This results in us turning 4G off to save battery, but CDMA 3G is so slow. It's like 0.75-1.25 Mbps. Personally, I'd prefer my consistent 5-10 Mbps on my GSM phone than the inconsistent speeds of the LTE phone, at least in our area (Long Island).
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] melterx12:
so now please tell me, what can you do on your phone with 7mbps that you can't do with 1mbps?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] SamsungVibrant:
My Opinion

First off, if we are strictly talking about data & web use on a smartphone interface only, then these speed wars are completely silly. You are going to notice no difference surfing the web on your phone, emailing, watching youtube, etc...between HSPA+ and LTE. I much rather have these carriers stop boasting about who has the largest and fastest 4G network and much rather have these carriers start playing fair with the consumer. Stop limiting and putting ridiculous caps on data, and let your customers enjoy your "nations largest and fastest 4G Network."

My Vibrant is a 3G only phone and it pulls in up to 7mbps. If I'm in Hollywood or West LA I get consistent speeds up to 7mbps on a 3G only phone. The newer HSPA+ 21/42 phones are even faster.

I don't have Verizon but in my experience just using friends phones is that their 3G CDMA network is actually slow, much slower than T-Mobile, but their LTE is fast. However, if you compare HSPA+ actual 8-12mbps speeds to LTE actual speeds of 18mbps, are you really going to notice a real life difference on your phone? NO

The problem with T-Mobile and At&t, and the reason I really want to switch to Verizon is coverage. T-Mobile is fast in metropolitan areas, but once I come home to my suburban LA neighborhood coverage falls to edge mostly, while Verizon is still kicking strong with 3G.

If you are always in a metropolitan area then in my opinion you won't notice a life changing difference between HSPA+ and LTE. However, if you want more consistant coverage stick to Verizon and their LTE/CDMA network.

Another advantage to HSPA+ is having the ability to travel abroad and put in a different sim, but really how often do you travel abroad?

Lasty, people who say T-mobile is so cheap, no it isn't. T-Mobile appears cheap on the surface, but once you start considering family plans and exclude their stupid "value plans" then T-Mobile isn't cheap. Which is why I'm really considering switching to Verizon, costs actually less for me :)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] voxigenboy:
LTE = faster data + double storage space

HSPA+ = better battery life
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] nabzilla1990:
I'm not seeing faster data even in Washington DC switches a million times between cdma and 4g battery sucks on this one returning it tomorrow ordering an unlocked one
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] SamsungVibrant:
Not really double the storage space unless you are grandfathered into an unlimited data plan.

Makes no sense to move storage to the cloud with data caps. Oh wait it does make sense, people will exceed their data cap and pay for overages.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] voxigenboy:
so if you're Verizon... 'money in the bank!'.. ;D
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] SamsungVibrant:
LOL exactly. Too bad none of us here are Verizon.