Samsung Galaxy S2 HD LTE

[3GScottishUser]

Browsing around I found this device which is currently available in Korea although its being offered for sale as a grey import by a number of companies in the UK and elsewhere.

Apart for the usual Galaxy S2 features it has an improved display and interestingly LTE 850, 1800 and 2600.

Good news for those who might want to get on-baord the new Everything Everywhere LTE 1800 service when it begins rolling out later this year.

The other interesting point is that the chips for LTE at various frequencies are already being manufactured and Qualcom, Huawei and Sony are commited to making products avialable in the short term according to the GSA.

Full Specs: http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s_ii_hd_lte-4198.php

UK Price is a shade over £500, $799 in the USA.

Is this the most future proof smartphone available presently?

[Wilt]

I'm still dubious about the LTE 1800 claim. Other than the (dodgy (http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showpost.php?p=57087990&postcount=12)) shop that was posted on digitalspy, I have found only one other shop (http://www.purelygadgets.co.uk/Samsung-Galaxy-S-II-HD-LTE---Sim-Free-(Black)/mainproduct/view/35252-BK/10) and an eBay seller (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Unlocked-Samsung-Galaxy-S2-HD-LTE-4G-1-5GHz-Dual-Core-4-65-AMOLED-E120L-/260930572393#ht_9092wt_952) who are selling this phone. None of which list the phone as LTE 1800 compatible.

As I said in that other thread, GSM Arena is a great site - but their spec listings aren't always correct. Especially for obscure regional variants such as this.

[Ben]

I wouldn't trust any phone (or tablet) purchased ahead of the UK networks making commercially available their 4G offerings to be compatible tbh.

Anyone looking for reasonable future-proofing should go for a device that supports the fastest HSPA standards currently available. That's likely to offer increasing speeds through 2013.

Gosh, what a mess we're headed for when we've got 2G, 3G, and LTE all operational at the same time.

[Wilt]

Given the security issues with GSM we should be in a position to start thinking about switching off 2G. But how much do you want to bet GSM will still be knocking about in 10-15 years?

[miffed]

Not sure about "future proofing" myself , its all about the here and now, I wouldn't even buy an Android (or WP) device on anticipation of an OS upgrade !! Let alone based on LTE rollout.

Much as my Galaxy Note is my dream phone now , I suspect it will be ancient history by 2013 !!

[3GScottishUser]

Gosh, what a mess we're headed for when we've got 2G, 3G, and LTE all operational at the same time.

I doubt if Mr Average customer will bother with all the jargon. These will sell when LTE becomes available as the fastest Internet mobiles no doubt.

GPRS, HSDPA, HSPA+, LTE, bring them all on, the more technology the better - Wi-Fi too, so we can get more data in more places, faster than ever! :)

[Ben]

Oh no, I'm fully in favour of phasing out the old technologies and ensuring that the airwaves are efficiently filled with the fastest, most efficient, and most widely adopted standards.

GSM and WCDMA need to go the way of the dodo, fast. Of course, this in itself has massive costs. But what are the costs of not doing it?

[3GScottishUser]

LTE should be a big step forward but so will the multi-mode HSPA+ services being developed and rolled out now. Those are mainly software upgrades so not too costly to impliment. 42Mbs HSPA+ requires new consumer handsets and dongles but as its again another software upgrade to existing infrastructure it should roll out quickly.

It looks pretty likely that EE will get the go ahead to rollout LTE on some of their 1800MHz spectrum this year. That must be a big dilemma for Ofcom who want to see service improvements for customers as soon as possible yet balance that with fair play to ensure competition. LTE will give EE an 18 month head start deploying LTE and they will no doubt pitch themselves as Britain's Fastest Mobile Network. Could be good though as it might spur Vodafone and O2 into refarming their 1800MHz bandwidth to LTE as Ofcom have already stated they would have no issue with them doing so. Then there will be the auction and who knows who will win what?

I'm pleased that there is evidence of device development to support the new services well in advance of it becoming available. When one thinks back to the early days of 3G and the devices at launch it looks like some lessons have been learned and it'll be top of the range LTE enabled kit that will spearhead the new provison. I suppose for the manufacturers frequency ranges and data technologies mean very little and they will try to factor in as much as possible to cover all the possibilities for consumers in many markets, avoiding the expense of producing area specific varients of similar devices.

[Ben]

I'd really like to see HSPA deployment in 900MHz to surge ahead, I think that'd be much more beneficial to consumers at the moment as some handsets can already support this - unlike LTE at 1800MHz which is somewhat of an unknown quantity at the moment. So, if EE push into LTE, and O2/Vodafone push into HSPA @ 900MHz, I think there'll be plenty of winners.

Then once the auction is over everything'll start to standardise into the newly awarded spectrum.

Three is the only one currently in complete limbo. But I think they've got enough going on to continue their forward motion until new spectrum arrives and they can get serious about LTE. I do wonder, however, whether they'll look at building their own LTE network, or if they'll try and do it through MBNL...

[Hands0n]

Does anyone really believe that EE will sell LTE at full speed? My thoughts are that they will introduce various data speed caps and sell them accordingly. Let us not forget that T-Mobile already have track record and Orange have the most miserly data tariffs of all the operators. I see no precedent with either of the business merging under the EE banner that suggests the future will be bright on LTE with them.

I do think that O2 and Vodafone will make the better deployment of LTE, tariffs are likely to be better and less stingy than with EE. But I also wonder how the new terminal devices will operate, in terms of battery life, having to literally surf across three or more network bands.

Then there are the actual licences themselves. One of these is to be a "premium" one with the greatest flexibility and coming with an obligation for the winning operator to provide the largest geographic coverage of all the licences. O2's track record with 3G is lamentable, they have had to be censured by OFCOM twice already. So that really leaves Vodafone and Three as the most likely bidders for that one.