Day 1 Test of SMART Evolution 4G LTE
We’re currently part of the closed beta test for SMART Evolution (LTE 4G). Smart only has around 20+ sites with LTE network up at the moment. That’s not a big problem for our testing though since we get around 2-3 bars of LTE signal here at our condo in Greenhills. The signal only appears near the window in our bedroom though so I end up using the laptop more often while in bed lately haha!
Anyway, let’s get to the speed tests!
SMART Evolution LTE 4G Speed Tests
For the first test I had around 2 bars of LTE signal. I wasn’t expecting much but I was really blown away with the initial results! Check out the screenshot below:
As you can see this is already 5x better than my DSL plan at home! I moved around the condo a bit to find a spot with better signal. Fortunately I found an area with 3-4 signal bars of LTE. I did another speed test and here’s what I got:
At this point I tried doing some torrents. The results were equally impressive! I got around 1 Mbps DL for torrents. That’s already much better than my usual 150-200 Kbps rate. To put this into context, I was watching one episode of my favorite TV series while downloading the next few episodes. After finishing the first I checked my torrent que and I already finished downloading the next 3 episodes. Yes… this is ridiculously fast and this will “inspire” you to fill up your external hard drive with movies, TV series, and other stuff quickly. Just last night I downloaded over 12 episodes of different TV series and 1 movie.
Is the speed consistent? Is there a cap?
Yes to both questions. I constantly get an average of 9 Mbps DL speeds at home and it peaks at 17 Mbps depending on LTE signal. Regarding the download cap I heard during our briefing that each beta tester has around 50GB allocated monthly. That’s more than enough for the average user. If you’re the type that downloads strictly 1080p videos though then this might not be too much.
What if there’s no LTE signal?
You can actually fix the settings so that it can detect HSPA+ (Smart Bro Rocket). At my office there’s no LTE signal but I get around 3-4 bars of HSPA+. I did a speed test and here’s what I got:
Not that bad. It’s not your usual HSPA+ speed but maybe that’s because of the congestion of the network in my area.
Coming up
We’ll be doing more speed tests in different areas in the next few days. Expect another update from our Smart Evolution LTE 4G testing soon!
For more information about SMART Evolution LTE 4G, check out our previous feature article.