AT&T 4G: Not All HSPA+ Phones Are Created Equal

At the Samsung/AT&T event today, the Samsung Infuse 4G was officially announced, and slated to be available May 15th. Our hands-on is here. It was also called the "first phone to support hspa+/hsupa at launch". It has a dual antenna, just like the Motorola Atrix, but unlike the Atrix, it will have HSUPA enabled at launch. 4G comes in many different flavors, not all created equally. Read on for more details.

AT&T does 4G on its HSPA+ network, and has faced criticism since it didn't have HSUPA enabled on the Atrix at launch, even though the capability was there. Even now, as AT&T has claimed that HSUPA is up and running, many have been disappointed in the upload speeds the Atrix is showing. And with the HTC Inspire 4G and Motorola Atrix 4G, AT&T has lowered the bar on "4G" to speeds of 14.4 Mbps. These same speeds can be seen on 3G devices, such as the iPhone 4.

Verizon has unquestionably been able to put up the fastest 4G speeds on its 4G LTE network, with the Thunderbolt, and now the Droid Charge. We will see as we do the full review of the Infuse 4G how its speeds stack up. We have high hopes for the Infuse, with its huge Super AMOLED screen, and super thin construction. But not all 4G flavors are created equally, and the proof will be in the speed tests.