AT&T’s many forms of „5G“ mean you need to be smart about which phone you choose. We help cut through the noise to pick the right one.
Now that you’ve chosen AT&T as your carrier, it’s time to pick a phone. Choices are broader than ever, as AT&T has largely gotten rid of phone subsidies. Most people still buy their phones from their carrier with the help of monthly payment plans or fast-upgrade plans such as AT&T Next Up. But there’s no overall cost penalty to buying an unlocked phone anymore, and AT&T supports more unlocked devices than any other US carrier. That puts a lot of choices at your fingertips, so we’re here to help narrow them down. AT&T placed second in our Fastest Mobile Networks tests in 2021, with an excellent 4G network held back a bit by a muddled 5G situation. AT&T customers are getting excellent LTE performance, as long as they ignore the icon in the status bar: AT&T sells its 4G network as 5G Evolution or „5GE“ (though it isn’t 5G) and also runs a „nationwide 5G“ network that is, in general, no faster than its 4G network. We were also impressed by AT&T’s performance in rural areas. Even though AT&T lacks good 5G, you still need a relatively recent phone to take advantage of AT&T’s high-quality 4G.
