Summary
It seems that WhatsApp is revolutionizing with voice calls through its application, but as many will remember what they have been offering for a long time, it is that many of us have forgotten Skype.
But if something is giving so much attention to WhatsApp calls, it is because of the infinite number of users that the application has. data consume these calls? Will this service be available for my mobile phone? We are going to analyze it carefully, because consumption depends a lot on the network to which we are connected.
Introduction
A call quality that adapts to the network
It does not matter what type of mobile network or WiFi we are connected to, that WhatsApp will always allow us to make a call, overcoming the restrictions that some operators may put to their use. Obviously the quality of the call will depend on the quality of the network, since if we are in an EDGE network, where calls via WhatsApp also work, with the defect that we will have a delay that makes the call very uncomfortable.
But precisely that is one of the advantages of these calls, which will be at the hand of any user with a Smartphone with an operating system compatible with the application, regardless of whether their mobile has 4G or not, even 3G. But that is why ensuring that WhatsApp calls have a specific data consumption per minute is an error, and it all depends on the network to which both parties are connected, both the transmitter (Tx) and the receiver (Rx).
Methods
Data obtained in tests
If the quality of the calls is not the same, the data consumption cannot be the same either. With this concept we ventured to analyze data consumption, the expense of calls via WhatsApp depends on what type of network both parties are connected (Tx, Rx).
Amount of data consumed by a WhatsApp call
To do this we have used two devices with "Android" operating system, forcing them to connect to different networks (4G, 3G and 2G) to test the cost. After repeating the same tests several times (2-minute calls) this is the average consumption of the calls we have made according to the network to which we were connected:
Network type Data consumption in two minutes of call
- 2G - 400 KB3G - 600 KB4G - 1 MB
Results
The first thing that could be verified is that data consumption depends on which device has the worst connection on 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 call quality, is the same as if the users were connected to an EDGE network at both ends.
We have also verified that the calls we have made, lasting two minutes, we have to discount the data consumption that is made while the call is established, it is the same what we would spend if the other side did not take the call. So we have been able to check the data consumption of the call establishment if it is between 10-20 KB (almost negligible).
Finally, before establishing a consumption per minute we also have to take into account how talkative both parties are to the call. We have seen how a silent call consumes up to 25% less data than a call without stopping talking.
Discussion
At this point, after having carried out 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 much data is consumed by WhatsApp calls: from about 200 KB per minute.
With 4G WhatsApp calls consume a minimum of 500 KB per minute
In calls with at least one of the phones connected to the 2G network, the data consumption is around 200 KB, always depending on the level of coverage we have and the pace of the conversation. In the case of having at least the two phones with 3G, the average consumption per minute rises to 300 KB, while if both parties have 4G, the consumption per minute will not drop below 500 KB.
Conclusions
These are the results that we have obtained from our tests, in which we have forced two Android Smartphone to connect to different networks to check how the consumption depends on the network that we have.
