Globe Tattoo Tonino Lamborghini 4G Stick Day 1 Review

Globe Tattoo Tonino Lamborghini 4G Stick Day 1 Review

Globe Tattoo Tonino Lamborghini Stick -- 10mbps?

Globe recently launched the Globe Tattoo Tonino Lamborghini 4G Stick which is supposed to deliver up to 10mbps when connected to the HSPA+ network. Globe’s HSPA+ coverage barely covers majority of Metro Manila yet so it’s crucial that we also test this against areas without HSPA+ to see how much speed we will be getting from it. The Tattoo Tonino Lamborghini is a hefty investment since it will cost Php2,199 monthly and there’s a lock-in period of 24 months. Not a lot of people are willing to dive in and test. That’s where we come in. >:D

We bought and subscribed to the service. This is not a trial or demo unit from Globe. We are not endorsers or paid to do this. But since we’re internet addicts and we just love to review cutting edge stuff we took the plunge! And yes, even if Smart hasn’t rolled out LTE commercially yet we’ve already set our minds (and our budgets) to subscribing to it as well when it comes out so we can compare both products!

Before anything else though let me just define some of the network terms. The Globe Lambo Tattoo Stick can connect to either of three networks: WCDMA, HSDPA , and HSPA+. The HSPA+ is supposed to be the one that delivers up to 10mbps but it’s only available in limited areas.

DAY 1: FORT BONIFACIO, TAGUIG (Marajo Tower along 26th St. corner 4th)

Average speed in the office

First stop is my office in Fort Bonifacio. Average speed plays around 600kbps to 1.2mbps. Limited to WCDMA and HSDPA networks only. This was my first ever try so I was disappointed. However later in the afternoon speed suddenly goes up to almost 3mbps while still connected to just the WCDMA and HSDPA network.

Highest speed using WCDMA/HSDPA network. (Fort Bonifacio, Marajo Tower)

Average speed for the office though the entire afternoon didn’t really go past 1.5mbps. Definitely not happy. However a pleasant surprise is waiting for me at home.

GREENHILLS AREA, SAN JUAN CITY
Tried it again at home. I was worried since the display said I can’t connect to HSPA+, just WCDMA and HSDPA. Connected and did speed test. Amazing results! It’s not 10mbps but I’m still happy, haha!

Highest I got was around 4.1, didn't get to screenshot thought ><

Seeing 3.8mbps was a delight since I’m paying close to 2k for our 2mbps PLDT connection at home. I tried to check out how fast downloading via torrents would be with this speed and this is the result:

Fastest I got was 450 KB/s, will do more torrents and screenshot later

Not bad! Note that I’m still just connected to the HSDPA and WCDMA networks. Haven’t tried the Lambo yet on an actual HSPA+ site.

Our Superficial Complaints
Other than the lousy speed at the office we only have two more issues with the Tonino as of this writing. First is the size of this thing! If you plug this in a MacBook Pro you can’t plug any other USB device on the second slot since the body eats up the space. Our second complaint is the product presentation. They just put a cheap sticker with the Tonino Lamborghini logo on the top side of the Huawei USB stick. They could have used better material for it. These are things that can be addressed with future models though. 🙂

That closes Day 1 with the Globe Tattoo Tonino Lamborghini 4G Stick. Sadly we weren’t able to hook it up to the HSPA+ network to see anything close to 10mbps. But the 3.8mbps – 4.2mbps speed at home isn’t bad either. Hopefully we’ll find a spot in Fort Bonifacio tomorrow.

Other Globe Tattoo Tonino Lamborghini 4G related entires:

Unboxing the Globe Tattoo Tonino Lamborghini 4G Stick
Globe launches 4G Stick

What’s Smart doing about this? Here are some posts that talk about the Smart LTE (Evolution) developments:

SMART LTE Evolution Test at Dusit
What is LTE?
Huawei LTE Dongle

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