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The hottest LTE devices available in the U.S. today

October 11, 2011 — 3:32pm ET | By
Tools

Oh what a difference a year makes. In September of 2010 MetroPCS (NASDAQ:PCS) was the first to launch LTE service in the U.S.  And now just one year later, three operators have deployed LTE service in some form and the number of LTE devices available to end users has grown dramatically.

Indeed, LTE device momentum is accelerating. Although it is difficult to quantify how many LTE device models have been sold so far, operators certainly are working hard to get consumers to migrate to LTE devices and LTE networks. According to research from the NPD Group, sales of 4G smartphones reached 22 percent of all U.S. smartphone sales in the second quarter (NPD considers smartphones to be 4G if they support LTE, WiMAX or HSPA+ with downlink speeds of 14 Mbps or greater.) "In the year since the debut of the Evo 4G, the number of 4G smartphone models has exploded," NPD analyst Ross Rubin said in a statement. "Carriers have great incentive to promote handsets that showcase their network investments and command premium data rates. 4G is ushering in the era of video on the go."

Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ), which has the largest LTE device portfolio with 14 devices, sold 1.2 million LTE devices in the second quarter. That was up from 500,000 LTE devices it sold in the first quarter, including 260,000 HTC ThunderBolt smartphones.

Other carriers' LTE device selections are smaller right now. MetroPCS currently offers three LTE handsets, including two Android smartphones. The flat-rate player has also said it might consider selling LTE tablets in the future. 

Meanwhile, AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) started offering  LTE service in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio in September and expects to deploy LTE across 70 million POPs in 15 markets by year-end. So far, the company's LTE devices include a handful of USB modems, a mobile hotspot, and its most high-profile LTE device to date, the HTC Jetstream tablet (though AT&T has said it will launch at least one LTE smartphone by year-end).

There are a handful of devices in the market and even more in the pipeline. Although the first LTE devices for Verizon and AT&T were USB modems, smartphones and tablets provide carriers with a greater chance to differentiate their LTE networks.  Here is a rundown of some of the most high-profile LTE smartphones and tablets currently available from U.S. carriers. 

Click here to see the hottest LTE smartphones and tablets available today.