Latest 4G Mobile Phones

4G or LTE stands for the 4th generation of mobile telecommunications technology. Mobile internet in its nascent days was fast enough to transmit only text-based content. With 3G, speeds were finally fast enough (theoretically up to 42Mbps) to offer experiences like video calling, video streaming and the usage of rich apps. With 4G, the speeds have further increased (theoretically as fast as 100Mbps) to make connectivity more seamless and buffer free. Adding 4G also means decongesting networks in countries like India, which will soon be the world's 2nd largest cellphone population.

4G is complicated because it works on different bands across different countries. In India, most operators are offering it via the 2300MHz band (a.k.a TD-LTE Band 40) and 1800MHz (a.k.a FD-LTE Band 3). Phones that support 2300MHz are observed to support 1800MHz too. But there have been phones available in India like the LG Nexus 5 or the Motorola Moto X, that have supported only 1800MHz. It gets tricky here, because some cities in India have 2300MHz coverage, some have 1800MHz, some have both. It is said that eventually some operators will offer coverage in both bands across all cities. So rule of thumb is, if you want to buy a 4G enabled phone today, make sure you buy one that supports TD-LTE 2300MHz Band 40.

As of 2015, 4G services are only used for serving data; phone calls are routed via 2G/3G networks with a technology called CSFB (Circuit Switched FallBack). Eventually, voice calls can also be handled over LTE by using VoLTE (or Voice over LTE).

Although it may seem like the noise about 4G began in early 2015, it has actually been around since 2012, with Kolkata being the first city where Airtel deployed its 4G network. Following which, cities like Bangalore, Pune followed suit. As of 2015, 4G is already deployed in 44 cities and more counting. While Airtel decided to activate one city at a time, Reliance's upcoming Jio 4G network aims to launch the high speed mobile internet service pan-India by the end of 2015. This price list of 4G phones in India should help you find out which phones are compatible with this high-speed internet service.