Performance and battery life
The mobile hotspot is useless if there is
no stable performance, so luckily the Liberate is really quite good. We
connected the tablet, smartphone and laptop to it for the whole day and got frequently
the LTE speeds of around 15Mbps download and 8MP upload when the Liberate had
around 3 bars of signal. We tried to open from 10 to 20 browser tabs
simultaneously and the performance did not decrease much. Of course, the speed
may vary depending on locations. At Potrero Hill district of San Francisco, the
performance fell several points below the average, while we lost 5 points in
Mission District where the signal strength sometimes reduced to 1 or 2 bars.
We have to say we were really happy with
the battery life of the Liberate. After about 8 hours of continuous use (our
computer was connected to the IRC and smartphones and tablets had push
notification feature on), the battery only consumed around 20% of the power. We
also left it connected all night long and it survived in about 24 hours idle.
Novatel evaluated the Liberate’s battery life of about 11 hours, and this time
we did believe it.
Novatel
evaluated the Liberate’s battery life of about 11 hours, and this time we did
believe it.
Price and competition
The Liberate is one of two mobile hotspots
available from AT&T; the rest is from Sierra Wireless Elevate 4G. The Elevate
also offers 4G LTE speed with one microSD card slot, but it only allows you to
connect up to 5 devices while the Liberate is extended to up to 10 devices.
Instead of the touchscreen and 2900mAh battery, the Elevate has a 1.77 inch LCD
with simple 1800mAh battery, which is claimed to last 5 hours. It is also
significantly cheaper than the Liberate, with just $1 on a two-year contract.
While we are afraid of worse battery life of the Elevate, it is certainly a
much better deal if you do not need the features of the strange Liberate. About
the packages, AT&T offers a fixed price for the mobile hotspot, and you
have 5GB per month at $50/month.
Sierra
Wireless Elevate 4G
If you are not tied to AT&T, Verizon
may have better options with the Jetpack MiFi 4620L or the Jetpack 890L
designed by ZTE. The 4620L MiFi looks more like a traditional MiFi with just
the most basic information on the OLED screen, while the Jetpack 890L is
beautifully designed with a larger OLED. Both of them offer 4G LTE, the ability
to connect to up to 10 devices, receiving alerts using SMS and compatibility
with international networks. The MiFi is battery life claimed to last 10 hours,
while the Jetpack 890L can reach 5 hours, and costs $50 and $20 after a 2-year
contract. The packages of Verizon is different from those of AT&T: you can
choose one of five different monthly packages: 4GB at $30/month, 6GB at $40,
8GB at $50, 10GB at $60 or 12GB at $70. Our personal preference is Verizon’s
flexible 4620L MiFi due to more data as well as a simple interface and its
familiarity.
Jetpack
MiFi 4620L
Jetpack
890L
Conclusion
Regarding the core functionality, the MiFi
Liberate does what it is promised to do. It is truly a mobile hotspot with
pretty good LTE speed and excellent battery life. The ability to connect to up
to 10 devices is excellent, and it is priced at an affordable $50 after a two-year
contract with AT&T. However, it is not without faults. Although the touchscreen
provides quick access to valuable connection information, we wonder whether it
is not excessive – a simple LCD screen like the one on the Elevate will be
enough. The touchscreen itself is not so interesting to use with slow speeds.
Features such as messaging, streaming media, and GPS are fine, we suppose – it
does not hurt to have them but they do not seem necessary here. Finally, the Liberate
MiFi is a pretty good shopping if you need a mobile hotspot. And if you want a
hotspot with broadcasting equipment as well as a touchscreen with additional
interesting features, you should use a smartphone instead.
Regarding
the core functionality, the MiFi Liberate does what it is promised to do.
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Information
·
Price: $50 on a contract
Advantages
·
High speed
·
Impressive battery life
·
Good price
Disadvantages
·
Not trustworthy touchscreen
·
Not necessary features
·
Bulky design
Key points
·
The MiFi Liberate is a fast and long-lasting
mobile LTE hotspot from AT&T, but its untrustworthy touchscreen leads us
to look for a less interesting MiFi or connect to a smartphone instead.
The MiFi
Liberate Specifications
·
Packaged Quantity: 1
·
Device Type: Wireless router
·
Service Provider: AT&T
·
Enclosure Type: Desktop
·
Connectivity Technology: Wireless
·
Data Link Protocol: IEEE 802.11
·
Built-in Devices: Display
·
Type Wireless: cellular modem
·
Cellular Protocol: LTE
·
Networking type: wireless router
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