4G Mobile Hotspot Device for Travel (UPP Blue)

I bought this in spite of the ongoing legal battle that Glocalme and Skyroam appears to be embroiled in. I believe they have sidestepped whatever issue they were dealing with with the release of updated firmware and this new unit so I'm not too worried about there being any long-term issues with the injunction they had placed against them. This device mysteriously appeared on Amazon shortly after the injunction went into effect and all the older devices mysteriously disappeared. So.... there isn't a lot of information on this, but it was a concern of mine before I ended up buying the device anyway.I needed something that would work reliably as a hotspot for AT&T and/or Tmobile and this one mostly fit the bill. There is no band 71 support which really sucks for Tmobile, but you do what you can! I got a sim card from Red Pocket, put 60GBs on it and have been using it daily for about 5-6 days while camping in West Virginia (working remotely). It has been rock solid and has given me some decent speeds while my poor phone has had crap service from Tmobile (AT&T is the only cell carrier with a decent presence in West Virginia).I liked this option because I know I can use it in the future for day-trips as well as short business trips and the freedom to hop carriers in the US and outside of it is huge. Also purchasing data direct, while more expensive, will really be nice to get started in a new country when I visit. I really wish I had something like when when I visited Italy at the beginning of the year. I'll definitely be packing it along for future adventures.As far as usability is concerned, the form factor is almost exactly the same as my LG v30 with the slim case I have on it. It is pretty much just one button. Turn it on or turn it off. The initial setup was easy and I did not download the app or bind it to an account yet since I just slapped a sim card in there. All I did was name the device and setup the wifi hotspot password and it was ready to go.One thing I was really impressed with was the wifi range. I have been roaming almost as far away from this thing as I'd roam from a normal router. It has a pretty powerful wifi signal which has been super helpful as I have been working in an all-metal building a lot. I basically leave this thing on the outside of the building and then work from the inside. Excellent signal -- works almost like a cell signal booster.My only real complaints are, like others have mentioned, no real case options. I find myself babying the device since it really doesn't have much protection. It handles and feels like a cell phone so you want to protect the screen from damage. It hasn't been tough to protect it and I've been car camping so it has been in some decently harsh environments thus far. We'll see how it holds up long term. I won't be taking it camping often. Mostly it'll be coming along on business trips.Also because of the lack of a case, I found it was pretty easy to turn on while in my pack. I found a pocket which holds it well enough so it wasn't pushing buttons while I'm moving around -- but YMMV. You will want to find a place where the sides aren't pressed, otherwise it'll be constantly turning on and off in your pack or whereever you're holding it.The lack of Band 71 was also a bummer as I mentioned already. I'll probably upgrade my phone at some point and will use that when I travel too far out of the way on Tmobile's network. Since I have an AT&T sim in there right now I think I'll be ok for the time being, though.Finally, Glocalme is a Chinese company. I want to believe they have our best interests at heart, but China is in the midst of serious turmoil right now. Communication devices such as this one make for fantastic spy equipment and while I'd like to believe that isn't the case, it is something I considered when making a purchasing decision. Huawei and Oneplus, both very popular Chinese communication companies have been caught with spyware on their devices and networks. Do not think that this company is immune to the whim's of the Chinese government. So do your own research there and make an informed decision.Overall I have been very happy with it. It is very portable, very easy to use, and the battery has been lasting me from 8am until 11pm daily with about 30% charge to spare. Really cannot complain!

I've owned a couple of G3s now for a little over a year and they've been absolutely amazing on every international trip we've taken. I mentioned in my G3 review that the unit is fairly bulky and heavy, due to having such a large battery and the capability (which we never used) to serve as a portable battery for mobile devices. Even after a full 8-10 hour day of usage, we rarely saw the battery drop below 70-75% state of charge.When I saw a new iteration of the device, the G4, came out, I had to have one and I think GlocalMe have significantly improved the form factor of the device. It sports a much larger screen, is significantly thinner, and weights a lot less. The battery is smaller (3900 mAh vs. 5350 mAh), but that has not been an issue for us. Even after a full day of usage, the battery on the G4 was still around 40-50% so I think it could easily last for two days.G3: 126mm x 64mm x 17mm (thick); 235g; 5350 mAhG4: 136mm x 71mm x 12mm (thick); 187g; 3900 mAhI'm not sure of the processor/RAM specs, but the G4 boots faster and the UI feels snappier than the G3. The screen appears to be a similar resolution (perhaps slightly higher, but not noticeably higher) but I noticed colors seem more vibrant and there's a lot better contrast. I last updated my G3 software a couple of months ago, so it could be out of date, but the G4 has additional apps: Google Maps, translation app, and a currency conversion app (though this appears to be entirely in Chinese). The inclusion of maps is awesome and in general, I hope this means that in the future, we may be able to install our own Android apps on the device!I also want to share some things that I think could be improved or that might be considered downsides to the G4. We'll start with the obvious, which is that because the device is so new, there are no case options for it - hopefully that will change soon. The other major downside is that it does not appear as if a single GlocalMe account can register multiple devices. This means you'll need multiple email addresses if you have multiple devices - generally, I don't think this is an issue, but those of you upgrading from a G3 to G4 might find this a little frustrating. The other consequence of this is that the accounts (and therefore devices) cannot share purchased plans. I hope this is something they improve in the future.Lastly, I noticed the data plan store now includes unlimited plans for certain regions, which will throttle after hitting some data limit. This is a great, cheaper option for many if you don't plan to use much data, or if the speed isn't a huge concern for you. In Brazil, for example, the unlimited plan was $5/day, while the metered plans were expensive in comparison: ~$10 for 1 GB or $26 for 3 GB, though of course, there is no throttling on these plans. It's great to see GlocalMe adding new plans to fit different usage profiles!In summary, we've had GlocalMe devices on 6 international trips and they worked flawlessly. No issues registering on local networks or using the GlocalMe data plans. The hardware is solid - we've never experienced an issue that required rebooting the device. Finally, the software is usable, and there have been many improvements from the G3 to G4, which is hopefully a sign of many more improvements to come. If you travel a lot and are looking for a cost effective, reliable solution to having internet access abroad, I give the GlocalMe G4 my highest recommendation!

It’s like a scam. I had DuoTurbo from this company, but the connection was lost and useless for 80-90% of the time in Nepal. I purchased this model to use in Japan and Korea, the connection was great. But a complete data scam. I only use instagram and gmail on my phone, no Netflix or Youtube. But the device said I used 27 GB in less than three weeks. I used the device for internet to send emails for an hour at Starbucks and it told me I used 4-5GB within an hour.I reached out to customer care, they’re prompt in responding but did not have any solution for this.I would honestly purchase a wifi at the airport the moment I arrive in a foreign country. They provide a so much more stable, better wifi connection at a much more affordable, reasonable price. This? This is NOT. Unreliable, unstable, and drinks your money like a thirsty hippo. Supposed to make travel less stressful but it added stress.

Enjoying, easy setup , easy connection.Still figuring out the best data plan for me. But, I am pleased.

I think it works great. I stay local but I take it with me everywhere I go. No probs as of yet. Will update if need be. I reached out to a local provider for data plans. Seems the data drains so fast. I change this review if I go to the next provider and the data still drains at the same rate. Other than that. I’ve hooked everything up to this ( my 2 smart phones, lap top and smart watch) with no problems going to hook up my printer and smart scale. I’m done with regular internet providers. I’ll pay for what I need as I go and I’m saving money too.