Knowing how much mobile data you need can be tricky without knowing how much you use – and while every session is different, it’s important that you understand how much data you could be using.

Radio Streaming
A radio stream can use approximately 2MB of data per minute, depending on the quality of the audio stream.

YouTube
The average YouTube video uses 4MB of data per minute on the default video quality (480p). You can change the video quality to increase or decrease your data consumption – remembering the better the quality, the more data will be used.

Google Maps
10 minutes will use approximately 6MB, however, this may vary depending on the size of the map. Longer distances will use more data as more information will be loaded. More data will be used when launching the app if you have any saved locations or routes.

Facebook
Depending on the type of content that appears in your newsfeed, Facebook will use roughly 1.5MB to 2.6MB per minute. Text and photo content will use less data than video streaming, and the quality of photos and videos will also have an impact.

Netflix
1 hour of Netflix on the default video quality can use 1GB of data (remember, that’s GB, not MB). You can change the video quality to increase or decrease your data consumption – remembering the better the quality, the more data will be used.

Apps and Games
Apps and games vary greatly in size and should be checked for exact details prior to downloading. Remember whilst Apps might be free (no $ value) through the App/Play Store, they do require mobile data to be downloaded to your device and may require mobile data to use them.

Music
Music tracks tend to be about 5MB each but can vary depending on the quality and length of the track. Using music streaming apps, such as Spotify, will also use data on adverts.

Web Browsing
Web browsing generally uses 10MB every 10 minutes. However, this varies depending on which websites you browse (e.g. an image- or video-heavy website will use more data). Whether or not you are using a mobile-friendly version of the website will also impact data consumption.

Email
Reading and replying to 200 emails is about 5MB. Emails with attachments will increase the amount of mobile data used.