Michael Knutson
02-22-2011, 09:30 AM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2011/02/iphone-versus-iphone-ars-puts-verizon-and-att-to-the-test.ars' target='_blank'>http://arstechnica.com/apple/review...to-the-test.ars</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"The Verizon version of the iPhone 4 doesn't need a full review-partially because you've read a bunch already, and partially because there's not a lot to differentiate it from the AT&T iPhone 4. Yes, iFixit found a number of subtle differences between the two devices on the inside, but from the user end, there are really only two major differentiators: choice of network and the personal hotspot feature.</em></p><p><em>We decided to focus our testing energy on these two differentiators, plus the Verizon iPhone's battery performance, with a special focus on Chicago."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1298362075.usr17748.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>It should come as no big surprise that AT&T's network is faster for data, with AT&T's HSDPA able to theoretically do 14Mbps downloads, while Verizon's CDMA EVDO Rev A offers a theoretical maximum of 3Mbps downloads.</p><p>Performance testing showed: AT&T winning every Latency test; SpeedTest Download and Upload speeds had varied download winners; while AT&T was faster in every upload test; downloading Angry Birds (free) at 15.1 mb was always faster on AT&T; but a YouTube video of 4:35 (m:ss) *download was nearly the same on both networks. The review does offer a probable explanation for Verizon's YouTube performance: their optimization and buffering of video stream content.</p><p>Finally, they do caution that where you use your iPhone (and the carrier service at that location) will always trump any benchmarks, so, balance AT&T's performance against Verizon's strengths: phone calls, and the mobile hotspot feature.</p>