For data-conscious consumers, knowing exactly how much data is used for certain applications is imperative. The arrival of WhatsApp calling has been a godsend to mobile users who are wary of making traditional phone calls because they want to save on their monthly cellphone bill.
But how much data is used when using WhatsApp to make a video call? Here is the skinny.
WhatsApp calling versus WhatsApp video calling
A recent study by MyBroadband put WhatsApp video calling to the test, and here are the results.
Using the MyDataManager app (available for Android and iOS) on a 4G connection, researchers measured the data usage on a two-minute video call made via WhatsApp. Two minutes of video calling on WhatsApp used 10.1MB of data, which translates to 5.05MB of data used for every minute spent on a WhatsApp video call. This means that you’re spending about 75 cents per minute for a WhatsApp video call, depending on your service provider and its data rates.
Compare that to the amount of data used when making an audio call using WhatsApp, and the difference is quite evident. Again using the MyDataManager app on a 4G connection for two minutes, researchers found that 800KB of data is used for a two-minute WhatsApp call, which means that an average of 400KB is used per minute when calling on WhatsApp. This comes to about R0.06 per minute.
WhatsApp calling can be cheaper than making calls the traditional way, and for users that rely on their data as a primary means of communication, this should be good news.