Has it been a success?
Mr. Allera wouldn’t give us any data on the
subscriber uptake on the new network, but did say that the company “is happy
where we’re at”, and that the company had seen “significant user interest,” on
the back of its high profile media campaign, which has featured ads by
Hollywood legend Kevin Bacon. Readers can draw their own conclusions.
“We have seen data growth at around 250%,
we’ve invested around $1.5.Sbn over the next three years, and we will invest in
spectrum at the auction too to ensure our customers get the best experience
possible,” says Allera.
Time, and competition will soon tell, but
for now the experience, is mostly exceptional when compared to the existing
creaking 3G. Even if you do drop out of 4G reception, it falls back on to 2G/3G
quite comfortably, and the devices on offer are of a decent enough quality to
make the experience much better than the growing pains experienced by
international launches elsewhere.
Apple iPhone 5 4G
Price: $269.9, $54p/m (24 months) — 500JvIB
data
It
makes no compromise on its electronics to squeeze in 4G compare to some of the
other phones here.
There’s very little to add to our review of
the iPhone 5 in What Mobile’s November issue it remains a premier smartphone,
and thus a premier 4G device. It makes no compromise on its electronics to
squeeze in 4G compare to some of the other phones here.
Much of the device’s 4G problems reflect
the others on this page namely, there is a significant drop in battery life
when using 4G extensively. Users might want to consider switching 4G off when
idling, as well as switching off background update downloading.
Otherwise movie streaming, app downloading
all work perfectly. Unless you have BT Infinity or high speed Virgin Broadband
at home, this 4G will remain the fastest way to download apps, music and
movies. You can see a future when iPhones will finally be free of their
reliance on computer tethering. BEST BUY Jump two tiers to the 3GB plan
($69p/m) is your best bet (if you think you can use that much) as the handset
cost drops to $74.9
Samsung Galaxy S3 4G LTE
From $224.9, $54p/m (24 months) 500MB da ta
The Samsung Galaxy S3’s hardware actually changes quite significantly between
its 3G only (T999) and 4G (19300) versions which makes a purchase decision a
more tricky prospect.
The newer 4G LTE version have completely
different chipsets, and less RAM. The 2G/3G only version released here in June
has a Qualcomm dual core Snapdragon CPU running at 1.5GHz with 2GB of RAM.
The
newer 4G LTE version have completely different chipsets, and less RAM.
The new 4G version runs Samsung’s own
Exynos Quad Core (1.4Ghz), and just 1GB RAM. It also puts the squeeze on the
2lOOmAh battery. While the new Samsung Quad Core certainly is an efficient
beast, I didn’t find it last as long as the 3G version - as much a victim of
the stresses of 4G power usage.
Overall, it remains the same brilliant
device it was when our July issue.
BEST BUY: The 1GB data plan ($61.5p/m)
drops the phone price to $74.9
HTC One XL
From $224.9, $54p/m (24 month plan) - 500MB
da ta
The HTC One XL takes a bit of a hit
performance wise when compared to its high powered 3G contemporaries, namely
the HTC One X reviewed back in May, and even its (slight) upgrade, the HTC One
X+ reviewed in this issue. While the One X and X+ both run blazing fast quad
core Nvidia Tegra 3 chips (X at 1.5GHz, the X+ at 1.7Ghz), the XL uses the
older Qualcomm Snapdragon Krait dual core processor at 1.5Ghz — the same
processor used in HTC ‘s Windows Phone 8X (reviewed on page 52) — which is
incompatible with EE’s 4G. RAM remains the same across the entire line.
The
HTC One XL takes a bit of a hit performance wise when compared to its high
powered 3G contemporaries
Only the One X+ gets a bigger battery
(2lOOmAh, the others ail have 1800mAH). Battery wise, this was the poorest
performing of all the 4G devices, but otherwise it loads and runs Android much
as its predecessors did excellently.
BEST BUY: The 1GB data plan (41pIm) drops
the phone price to $74.9
Huawei Ascend Pl LTE
Free on a $54p/m (24 month plan) - 500MB
data The Huawei Ascend Pl 4G LTE version is the only phone on this list that
remains unchanged horn its non-4G version, released in October. While that
phone featured a decent enough processor and was much cheaper than high end
models, it suffered from poor video and photo quality. These faults remain in
the 4G version, but the more limited 4G phone options available mean this
device is well worth a second look. Why? Because it is the cheapest handset on
offer namely, its free on a contract.
Because
it is the cheapest handset on offer - namely, its free on a contract.
Expect EE to shell out a heap of these to
drive adoption of the network.
BEST BUY: A free handset means you can play
It by ear
