The Singtel 4G Trial Experience~

boiboi86

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Note: For the purpose of this trial, Singtel has kindly provided with the devices used here in this tests.

4G LTE: The Basics

The 4G protocol is basically a fourth-generation standard for mobile phone communications. It's also the successor to the third-generation standard as mentioned which is widely prevalent today. Both Mobile WiMax and LTE are subsets of the 4G mobile network. However, the most recent 4G roll-out in Singapore involves only the LTE system, which stands for Long Term Evolution, or 3GPP Long Term Evolution for the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS in short). Similar to 3G, a 4G mobile network provides users with broadband Internet access via smartphones, tablets, and USB wireless modems, albeit at faster data rates.

SingTel's LTE services operate on both 1,800MHz and 2,600MHz freqencies, In essence, lower frequencies, such as the 1,800MHz band, generally provide superior indoor signal strength with a longer range. However, higher frequencies like the 2,600MHz band are better suited for covering populated zones and managing data volumes due to their larger bandwidth. Besides 4G, the lower 1,800MHz band is also used by existing 2G networks.


-4G Trial-

Overview
The Sony Xperia SP is a mid-range handset that comes in a slim box. The accompanying accessories are; one A/C adapter, USB cable and a pair of generic headphones. Upon closer inspection of the phone, the design resembles that of the Xperia Z closely with regards to the design of the front display and large power button.

Measuring 130.6 x 67.1 x 9.98mm, the Xperia SP is not exactly the slimmest phone around. The device's slightly rounded back panel, smooth corners/edges and general dimensions fit well in my hand. Weighing at 155g makes the Xperia SP heavier than the Xperia Z, which has an even larger dimension.

Located on the left side of the phone is the power button, as well as the volume controls and the dedicated camera button. The Xperia SP also has a transparent band at the bottom of the phone. This band can be configured to light up with different colors when getting incoming notifications or from specific friends in your address book. When using the music app, the LED lights will also pulse rhythmically to the track being played.

Overall, my experience of using the Sony Xperia SP was good. The LED notification on the bottom transparent band was very useful as I can see what’s incoming at a glance, even when the phone was on silent mode.

The experience of the SingTel 4G network on the Xperia SP was a pleasant one. Having been on 3G networks previously, the switch to 4G was quite a good experience. Coverage was generally available except in the MRT tunnels. Surfing experience was great! Even places like NEX which has notorious 3G network surfing experience has a rather smooth 4G connection.

From my discussions within the forums, the general experience of forum members on 4G network are generally good as well; just that most would prefer to have a much higher free bundled data capacity.

Conclusion
The Xperia SP being a mid-range smartphone is by no means perfect but it has loads to offer for a modest price tag. Its 720p screen is sharp, its dual-core processor is enjoyably smooth, the build quality is solid and transparent LED strip at the bottom is quite handy and useful to be able to differentiate the type of notification at a glance without having to turn on the screen. It could have been a great smartphone with its solid build and great design. However, the poor camera performance lets the phone down.

The small flaws lurking around are the terrible Wi-Fi reception and occasional non-responsive screen. The battery is non-user-replaceable but the memory card slot is welcomed due to the small internal memory.

With that, let me show you the screenshots of the various speedtests which I have done around the island in recent weeks.

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04/05/2013 5:21PM @ East Coast Park

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07/05/2013 9:13AM @ Pasir Ris

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11/05/2013 3:19PM @ Orchard Road

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15/05/2013 7:33PM @ Tampines Mall

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20/05/2013 7:31PM @ Jurong East MRT Platform
 
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Apex

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Wow seems like Singtel 4G faster!

I also wanna trial how to get trial?
 

lockks

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So fast I have both 4g for m1 and Singtel. Singel converge of 4g are getting better by the day. M1 coverage doesn't feel 100%. I was near united square where it has ONI g signal for m1. M1 speed is all not as fast as Singtel 4g. In fact I feel it is slower.
 

radioshack

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Singtel 4G speed and coverage has been pretty solid so far. Just hope it remains this way.
 

boiboi86

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So fast I have both 4g for m1 and Singtel. Singel converge of 4g are getting better by the day. M1 coverage doesn't feel 100%. I was near united square where it has ONI g signal for m1. M1 speed is all not as fast as Singtel 4g. In fact I feel it is slower.

Its common to have blind spots all around the island. I've tried both M1 and SingTel 4G service, and I have to agree that the SingTel 4G signal is stronger.
 

Toby88

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I was previously from Singtel, and its 4G signals islandwide are pretty stable, most of the time having almost full bars for signal strength. Speeds are pretty good too, averaging 20+ up to 50+mbps download.

Switching over to Starhub, its really lagging behind. Since they do not have islandwide coverage yet, I can say many places that I have been do not have strong signals (includes my home). Hope by end of the year, coverage will improve.
Unfortunate as it is, its still a good decision on my end due to other reasons.

However, with 4G getting better, LTE phones are here to stay, I would never ever purchase phones other than that.
 

boiboi86

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I was previously from Singtel, and its 4G signals islandwide are pretty stable, most of the time having almost full bars for signal strength. Speeds are pretty good too, averaging 20+ up to 50+mbps download.

Switching over to Starhub, its really lagging behind. Since they do not have islandwide coverage yet, I can say many places that I have been do not have strong signals (includes my home). Hope by end of the year, coverage will improve.
Unfortunate as it is, its still a good decision on my end due to other reasons.

However, with 4G getting better, LTE phones are here to stay, I would never ever purchase phones other than that.

I agree.. my friend on Starhub cant stand the network and switched over to SingTel. 1 happy 4G network customer.. I too was sceptical about the 4G network until I got this chance to trial it.
 

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Blackberry Z10

Review on Blackberry Z10
The BlackBerry's Z10 marks a major shift in the company's approach towards smartphones and this BlackBerry model signals their first noteworthy attempt to compete with companies such as Apple and Google on that front. How does it fare? Let’s read more to find out.
The BB Z10 is a well-built, sturdy phone with an exterior made up almost entirely of plastic, other than the front glass panel. The handset is flat on both sides, and comes with a soft plastic rear. The LTE version of the Z10 features the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus which has a dual-core CPU running at 1.5 GHz, and an Adreno 225 GPU.


The microUSB and microHDMI ports sit flush along the left side of the device, with a power / wake button sitting at the center of the top together with the 3.5 mm headset jack to the left of it. The well-designed triple button volume buttons are on the upper right side of the phone, with volume control separated by a central key – used for playing/pausing music and activating voice control when held down. It is also pleasing to find that the rear cover can be removed easily by placing a finger in the indented speaker grill at the base of the Z10.


The display stands out at a resolution of 1280 x 768 with great colour clarity and reproduction. My only issue is the lack of an auto-adjust option for the screen's brightness which makes viewing at dimly lit areas annoying.
Pressing the power/lock key at the top of the device and the 4.2-inch HD display comes to life greeting you with the BB 10 lock screen. You get the date and time on the screen along with notifications of any new emails, messages, BBMs and missed calls. There's a shortcut to the camera app in the bottom right corner, while the general unlock function requires you to slide up from the bottom of the screen, which uncovers the home screen below as your finger moves up.


 
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boiboi86

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Just slide your finger up from the BlackBerry logo and the current screen is minimised to the centre of the screen, with new notification icons appearing to the left, so you can tell if it's a new BBM, text or whatever. Swiping halfway up then sliding your finger to the right will get you to the BlackBerry Hub. Here is where you'll see all of your inboxes, from text messages and email accounts to social networks and chat programs.






Swiping up from anywhere in the operating system pulls up a maximum of eight tiles — each of which represent your most recently used apps that; when tapped; opens up the app in the exact state that it was when you left it. Sliding to the right from the home screen will take you to the app list which will reveal your list of installed apps in 4 x 4 grids of icons. Swiping left from home screen will also take you into the BlackBerry Hub.

The BlackBerry Z10 has an 8 megapixel camera on the back with autofocus and LED flash capable of shooting 1080p video, while there's a 2 megapixel camera on the front that shoots video at 720p. In addition, the 8 megapixel camera comes with a feature call ‘Time Shift’. When taking a photo using Time Shift mode, a series of pictures are taken in quick succession. Once the shots are done, Time Shift allows you to quickly choose the best photo from the batch; as well as allowing you to further fine-tune the image e.g. on an individual's face for example.


Opening up the back cover, you can find the 1,800mAh removable battery, microSD card and microSIM card slots. The battery life is more than sufficient. With moderate use, I can get in a full day before recharging, while heavy usage pulled about 7 hours on average.


The browser included with the BlackBerry Z10 proves to be one of the best bit of the new OS, and from my experience with different smartphones; one of the best around at this moment. The browser scrolls through sites with ease and shows pages quickly, even those ‘design-heavy’ sites! It also allows the option to load Flash content.


As far as apps are concerned, BlackBerry 10 has a lot of catching up to do as compared to other operating system, as is the case with any newly designed OS. Popular choices like Google Talk, Whatsapp and Foursquare are all present, and BlackBerry has developed Twitter and Facebook apps for its platform. Dropbox is integrated into the operating system, although the standalone app on Android and iOS is more full-featured than the version found in BlackBerry 10. The YouTube app loaded just launches the video service's mobile page within the OS's browser.

The touchscreen keyboard provides a much better typing experience than I have experienced previously. It learns my typing style and will suggests words to help me type faster, with better accurately and with the least amount of effort needed. Thru my usage, keys don’t feel cramped to one another; the auto-correct seems spot-on more often than not and the word suggestion system is pretty effective. Instead of providing a few words in a bar just above the keyboard like most others, these suggestions appear right on top of the keys that would be the next letter in the word you may want to type. From here all you need to do is to swipe up on that next letter and the word will automatically appear in your text field. Pretty user-friendly I might add.
 
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boiboi86

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SingTel on Blackberry Z10
SingTel offers a customised My SingTel app which can be downloaded from the BlackBerry App World. My SingTel app on BlackBerry allows you to view your local and roaming data usage, view your bill cycle, re-contract eligibility as well as activate SingTel DataRoam Saver plans.







The experience of the SingTel 4G network on the BlackBerry Z10 is still great. This round of network coverage test is more comprehensive as compared to the previous time using the Xperia SP. Surfing experience on the 4G network is smooth. Various locations which I have tested using Speedtest.net and DSLreports.com are screenshot below. You can also share your feedback on SingTel’s network via Network Coverage | SingTel



Conclusion
The BlackBerry Z10 is a well-built and capable smartphone, even with the flaws found with the company's latest operating system. However, while it does have the potential to replace your Android or iOS device, the company doesn't give you many standout reasons to do so. Some aspects of the phone may be better than what you currently own, but most are, at best, on par with what you can find on any number of competing devices.

The move away from the traditional mandatory subscription of BIS/BES services does score points in terms of the savings the users will gain from these data plans. However, concerns of security are being raised due to the exact move by BlackBerry. Another function of the traditional BlackBerry being missed is the compression of data allowing lesser data being used.
The BlackBerry Z10 is definitely a worthy enough reason for fans to stick around with the company, but those who have invested years and app purchases to another platform may need more convincing before making the jump over.
 
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boiboi86

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Everyone can share their speedtest results here too if you want.. for everyone's reference.

Cheers~
 

boiboi86

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Review on Huawei Ascend P2
Huawei Ascend P2 is claimed to the world's fastest phone due to the Cat 4 LTE innards which can provide a theoretical speed of up to 150Mbps. Packed with a 4.7-inch, 1280 x 720 display, 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB internal memory, 13MP rear camera and front facing 1.3MP camera, they are enclosed within the dimensions of a 136 x 67 x 8.4mm lightweight plastic body weighing only at 122g.

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The Ascend P2 has no physical buttons on the front panel as they adopted touchscreen buttons at the bottom of the phone.

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Housed within the back cover is the 2420mAh battery. As the cover is non-removable, we cannot change the battery on our own. This is also the reason why the SIM card port is located on the right side of the handset under the power/lock key instead. At the bottom of the right side panel is a dedicated shutter key, allowing instant access to the camera to snap photos on the fly.

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At the top of the phone are the headphone jack and a microUSB port. The unique position of the microUSB port at the top of the phone makes it easy for the phone to be used when charging as it does not get into the way.

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On the left lies the volume rocker switch and moving round the back reveals a camera lens and single LED flash housed in a textured metal frame for some added protection. The speaker can be found near the bottom of the handset.

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boiboi86

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Huawei has built their own UI named Emotion UI 1.5. Running on top of Android, it brings along a number of personalization functions such as a library of UI themes, ranging from colorful and cartoonish to plain ones for users to choose from. Furthermore, users are able to choose from several lock screens and screen transition animations.

Unlike most other Android interface, Emotion UI does not have an app drawer. Instead, icons for all installed applications are listed on the home screen similar to the iOS. This makes the home screen very cluttered but at the same time, some users might appreciate the simplicity of it.

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The notification bar also hosts a broad range of toggle buttons, which can be rearranged in according to the user's liking.

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boiboi86

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SingTel on Blackberry Z10
SingTel offers various applications for use on the android platform. Some of the commonly used ones are namely My SingTel, mioTV PLAY, AMPed.

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My SingTel app allows you to view your local and roaming data usage, view your bill cycle, re-contract eligibility as well as activate SingTel DataRoam Saver plans.

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Mio TV PLAY app offers an extensive library of on-demand movies from around the world. This app allows users to rent the movies at a low cost.

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AMPed contains a huge library of millions of songs that allows users to browse anytime, anywhere. Users can browse music via top downloads or get the new releases. They are also able to browse through their favourite artist.

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boiboi86

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The SingTel 4G experience on the Huawei Ascend P2 was amazing. This round of testing was done using the app version of Speedtest.net and the browser version of DSLreports.com. Surfing and video streaming experiences on the 4G network are smooth. Various locations from all over Singapore are tested and results as per below.

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Far East plaza

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Raffles City Shopping Centre

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Simpang Bedok

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Tradehub21
 

boiboi86

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Tampines One

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Changi Airport Terminal 2



Conclusion
The Huawei Ascend P2 is a decent mid-range Android smartphone. However Huawei still has lots of catching up to do before they can come up with an ultimate device to challenge all other big players. The big 4.7-inch display coupled with the slim profile and lightweight body are some features that consumers might be looking out for but the lack of some features like a microSD card slot could still turn some consumers away.
After testing the 4G network with the various 4G devices, I can conclude that the SingTel 4G networks are still the best and the feedback from various forum members echoed the same view.
 

zuoom

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Dig a bit on Singtel 4G.

currently running singtel iphonenet sip on the phones.
but realised if on Singtel 4G LTE. the Bria client does not get connection.

anyone with that same issue? voip no go on 4G LTE?
 
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