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Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE and other 4G phones on sale today

Orange and T-Mobile customers can get their mitts on the '4G ready' HTC One XL and other smart phones from today.

Luke Westaway
Luke Westaway is a senior editor at CNET and writer/ presenter of Adventures in Tech, a thrilling gadget show produced in our London office. Luke's focus is on keeping you in the loop with a mix of video, features, expert opinion and analysis.
Luke Westaway
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Britain's first 4G Android phones are flinging themselves into shops, with the Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE, HTC One XL and Huawei Ascend P1 LTE available to Orange and T-Mobile customers as of today.

You can see those three gorgeous mobiles pictured above, getting a 4G speed test alongside the iPhone 5. Click through to examine hands-on snaps of the LTE-capable Samsung Galaxy S3, sure to be one of the most desirable 4G phones available.

EE (formerly Everything Everywhere) -- the new network that will be bringing 4G to the UK in a matter of weeks -- still hasn't revealed pricing or availability for the next-gen service.

If you're on Orange or T-Mobile, however, and you buy one of these '4G ready' mobiles, EE says it'll give you the option of moving across to its new network and that it'll make the process "as simple as possible". You can find Orange's offers here, and T-Mobile's here.

Bear in mind you won't get the 4G speeds unless you're on EE, even if you own one of the 4G-capable mobiles listed above.

I'd hold fire on buying a 4G phone just yet, at least until EE explains exactly what you'll have to do to switch to its network. O2 is offering a similar buy-now-switch-to-4G-later deal for the iPhone 5, but it involves you buying your way out of your contract -- an expensive switch to make.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 LTE

Finally, here's a bonus slice of good news -- EE is adding the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 LTE to the roster of 4G smart phones it'll be offering. The 4G-capable Note 2 can be yours from 15 October and we'll let you know as soon as possible if we hear of any specification differences between this and the bog-standard Note 2.

For more 4G fun, check out out comparison of the first four phones, and hit play to see the first 4G speed test.

Will you be buying a 4G-ready phone in anticipation of switching to EE? Or will you wait until the service is up and running before committing? Tell me in the comments or on our Facebook wall.

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Here's the Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE, which will arrive running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
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It looks identical to the regular Galaxy S3 but -- as you can see in this photo -- connects to 4G networks.
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Unlike the US 4G Galaxy S3, the UK variant is still a quad-core smart phone.
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The 720p display measures 4.8 inches on the diagonal and the 8-megapixel camera is stuffed with software treats.
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EE will be selling the S3 LTE exclusively in this titanium grey hue.
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I'm not sure the LTE icon on the phone's rear is very attractive, but at least it shows everyone that you get speedier mobile data.

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