Do you really need 4G?

You can call it whatever you want: LTE, HSPA, WiMAX or 4G.  Sprint claims up to 10 Mbps.  Verizon claims up to 12 Mbps.  And T-Mobile claims up to a whopping 21 Mbps.  AT&T is still stuck on 3G, but claims its network gets 7.2 Mbps.  Now, keep in mind, these are the fastest speeds possible, being at the right place at the right time -- the average customer would be lucky to even achieve half of this.  I won't get into the details, but the average 3G speed is roughly 1-1.5 Mbps, which is more than enough to watch a standard definition YouTube video on your mobile device.  It's also sufficient enough to connect to Facebook and Twitter, which I would say is what the majority of mobile users engage in.  So what's 4G good for?  It's great for streaming high definition video (Netflix) and mobile wi-fi (mi-fi) hot spots.  Everything else is doable with 3G, given you have some patience waiting for higher-quality media to load.  And until technology improves, 4G will eat your battery alive.  My HTC EVO using 4G hot spot lasts for about 3 hours until the battery is completely drained.  4G is nice to have, but isn't necessary for most of us.   

Source(s):  PCMag, lifehacker