Last week Apple released the newest iPhone 4S in the United States for all three major wireless carriers: AT&T, Sprint and Verizon.
As an iPhone user I wanted to compare the wireless networks of AT&T, my current carrier since the release of the iPhone 3GS in 2009, and Sprint the defacto Unlimited data wireless carrier since all data plans from the other major carriers carry a data-cap.
This is the first time that Sprint carries Apple’s flagship phone and despite the amaizing features of the phone, as you can see in the video, the wireless network of Sprint falls short of expectations for a proper iPhone experience to support YouTube streaming, data downloading, etc.
Further the video shows AT&T constantly offering amazing speeds (probably thanks to HDSPA+ wireless data technology only available for AT&T iPhones) in comparison to Sprint’s poor network performance during ping, download and web browsing tests.
For the time being AT&T will keep me as a customer, thanks to their superior data speeds and thanks to fact that AT&T is the only carrier to support web-browsing while on a call. If Sprint enhances their network to offer at least 100 KB/s (1MB steady downstream) they may become the defacto winner for new and current iPhone users looking to save some money (I could save $15+ a month by switching to Sprint). However due to their poor network performance I decided to stick with AT&T. I would love to hear about your experiences with the Sprint iPhone 4S on their network.
