Should you buy a 4G phone?

4G was the buzzword in the reviews we consulted for our recent update of the cell phone plans report. In theory, 4G will bring blazing fast speeds and new capabilities to your smartphone and other wireless devices. In reality, it's not quite there yet. While the four major U.S. carriers have some sort of 4G plan in place, coverage is spotty and there are less than 10 4G smartphones available. Verizon, the best reviewed carrier overall offers just one 4G smartphone (the HTC Thunderbolt), though its 4G network shows the most promise. The top regional carrier in our cell phone plans report, U.S. Cellular, does not yet have a 4G network at all.

What's 4G?

You're probably familiar with 3G, the technology that most smartphones work on now. 3G brought us better call quality and faster download speeds as well as large app stores and more advanced games. 4G, for now, will not affect call quality at all, only data. That should mean faster downloads and page load times.  

4G networks as they are now, are a hodgepodge of technology and very limited in coverage. For the most part, you'll find 4G on the east and west coasts and scattered throughout the south, including Texas, but almost nothing in the Midwest. Speeds and performance are all over the map. Laptop Magazine recently released a 4G report card that puts Verizon at the top and AT&T at the bottom.

Sprint charges extra for 4G smartphones ($10 per month) – whether or not you live in a 4G coverage area – for unlimited data usage. Verizon doesn't charge extra, but imposes a 5GB data usage cap. AT&T and T-Mobile don't charge extra, nor do they impose caps.

Do you need 4G?

A lot of experts explore what 4G really means – and most say it really won't make a big difference in your life. Gizmodo's Matt Buchanan explains, "you're talking about shaving seconds," from web page load times. He also makes the point that carriers are moving away from unlimited plans, which could make using 4G a pricier proposition. Finally, he says 4G will be a drain on your battery, and plenty of expert tests back that up. Roy Furchgott at the New York Times says to consider 4G only if there's no extra monthly charge and if phone prices are comparable. He stresses that you should "make sure the phone works well on both 3G and 4G." Since coverage is limited, your phone will often switch to 3G for the time being.

"Get on the 4G bandwagon as soon as it comes to your area," Brian Nadel at Computerworld says, taking it a step further than most. He notes that 4G indeed shortens battery life, but his tests show a noticeable speed difference between 3G and 4G on Sprint. Finally, PC World has an interesting article that explores what you might be able to do with 4G that you can't with 3G, including live streaming video, online gaming and emergency response applications, but it's all speculation at this point. 

4G smartphones

Here's the current line-up of 4G smartphones available from each carrier; all are Android phones. (You can also get 4G on other devices, including tablets and wireless cards.) For even more detail see all of ConsumerSearch's reviews of 4G phones.