How much data does a WhatsApp call use? It depends and we explain why

Does WhatsApp call use a lot of data? This guide will demonstrate amount of WhatsApp calling data usage per one minute call using 2G, 3G or 4G network. Actually WhatsApp data usage depends on several factors which we’ll explain and finally observe how much MB does a WhatsApp call use per minute.

It seems that WhatsApp has invented the wheel with the voice calls through its application, but as many of us have reminded us on several occasions about voice calls, VOIP is not something new at all.

Not only the current rivals of the application have been offering it for some time, it is that many of us have forgotten the mythical Skype.

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But if something is being given so much hype to calls WhatsApp is the number of users that have the application, which can cause the final boom of the voiceIP.

But before launching to not stop calling through WhatsApp there is an interesting point to consider, how much data do these calls consume?

Let’s analyse it carefully because consumption depends a lot on the network to which we are connected.

Effect of network quality over WhatsApp calling data usage

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No matter what type of mobile network or Wi-Fi are connected, WhatsApp will always allow us to make a call, saving the restrictions that may be put to use by some operators.

Obviously, the quality of the network depends on the quality of the call because if we are in an EDGE network, where calls via WhatsApp also work; apart from a very good voice quality we will have a delay that makes the call very uncomfortable.

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But precisely that is one of the advantages of these calls, which will be at the hands of any user with a smartphone with a compatible operating system, regardless of whether your phone has 4G or not, including 3G.

But that is why ensuring that WhatsApp calls have specific data consumption per minute is an error, and that everything depends on the network to which both parties are connected.

WhatsApp call data usage per minute – Data obtained in our tests

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If the quality of the calls is not the same, the data consumption cannot be the same either. With that clear premise, we venture to certify that the consumption, the expense of calls via WhatsApp depends on what type of network both partners are connected to.

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For this we have used two Android terminals, forcing them to connect to different networks (4G, 3G, and 2G) to check if our premise was true.

After repeatedly repeating the same tests (calls of two minutes) this is the average consumption of the calls we have made according to the network to which we were connected:

TYPE OF NETWORK
DATA CONSUMPTION IN TWO MINUTES OF CALL
2G
400 KB
3G
600 KB
4G
1 MB

The first thing we have found is that the data consumption depends on the worst connection of both sides of the communication.

If one of the users is in a 4G network but the other is in an EDGE network, the consumption, and the quality of the call, is the same as if both users were connected to an EDGE network.

We have also verified that the calls we have made, two minutes long, we have to discount the consumption of data that is done while the call is established, or what is the same, what we would spend if the other side did not catch us the call.

As we have been able to check the data consumption of the call establishment if it is between 10-20 KB, almost negligible.

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Finally, before establishing consumption per minute we also have to take into account how talkative both parties are to the call.

We have been able to see how a silent call consumes up to 25% less data than a call without stopping to talk.

It is assumed that nobody is going to make a call not to speak, but that there is to take into account this point, which makes it even more difficult to calculate the consumption.

Conclusion of WhatsApp calling data usage: from 200 KB per minute

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At this point, after having made several tests and taking into account that the consumption of a call varies according to the network to which we are connected and how talkative we are, it is time to establish how many data WhatsApp calls consume: from about 200 KB per minute.

With 4G network, one WhatsApp calls consume a minimum of 500 KB per minute.

In calls with at least one of the telephones connected to the 2G network, the data consumption is around 200 KB, always according to the level of coverage we have and the rhythm of the conversation.

In the case of counting at least the two phones with 3G, the average consumption per minute is 300 KB whereas if both parties have 4G the consumption per minute will not be lower than 500 KB.

These are the results we have obtained from our tests, in which we have forced two Android smartphones to connect to different networks to check how the consumption depends on the network that we have less.

The data we have obtained can be taken as a reference, as the minimum that the calls will consume, because as we have mentioned according to how talkative we are and the quality of the network the consumption changes a lot.

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