LG Nexus 4 to roll with HSPA+42, twice as fast as expected

The LG Nexus 4 has a little secret inside. The newest Nexus handset, introduced Monday by Google, has an HSPA+42 radio under the hood. That means it can upload and download data at a peak speed of 42Mbps, twice the speed of the 21Mbps radio that was expected on the phone. The reason this is important is that without LTE connectivity, using HSPA+ is the only way to get 4G speeds on the device.

The LG Nexus 4 supports HSPA speeds as fast as 42Mbps

Even more exciting is the prospect of downloading data faster than Verizon customers using the LTE pipeline belonging to the nation's largest carrier. You might recall that this past June, a test done by PC Magazine found that T-Mobile's HSPA+42 pipeline downloaded data faster than Verizon's LTE service in 11 cities. In other cities, like Miami, T-Mobile's HSPA+42 service nearly beat Verizon's 4G LTE speed. 

Not every GSM carrier offers HSPA+42 service, so it's best to find out if you carrier does have the faster pipeline available before you purchase the LG Nexus 4, which will first be on sale from the Google Play Market. Unlocked, the handset can be yours for $299 (8GB) and $349 (16GB) without a contract. And if the lack of LTE connectivity was a deal breaker before, perhaps this news puts the phone back on your radar.