So you’ve got your dream smartphone that you’ve been saving up for but now there’s another issue: the cost of your mobile phone data.
Finding the best cell phone data plan is often stressful and the cost is one of the many factors that consumers worry about.
But before you opt for unlimited cell phone data or even 7GB cell phone data you must ask yourself how much cell phone data is sufficient.
If you’re wondering how much cell phone data do I need? here’s what you should know:
How Much Cell Phone Data Do You Normally Use?
In most cases, you’ll be fine calculating the average of how much cell phone data you use on a monthly basis. For example, you can go to your smartphone’s settings to see how much cell phone data you often use on a monthly basis.
If the amount of cell phone data is 2GB per month on average, then you can buy a plan that sets this limit. You can also analyze what activity takes up most of your data.
This can help you keep your data under the 2GB limit. For example, let’s say you play mobile games and this takes up much of your space. You might need to regulate your gaming to stay under the limit.
While you might have a limit on how much cell phone data you can use this is also the best way to save money. You can also visit an online retailer to find a free mobile service to save your cell phone data.
Unlimited Cell Phone Data
Of course, the most popular solution is to just pay a flat fee to get unlimited cell phone data each month.
If you have an unlimited budget this might be the way to go. But if you don’t, then you might wish to reconsider whether you need unlimited cell phone data at all.
For example, unlimited cell phone data is great for streaming videos on YouTube or the Netflix app. But if you seldom use these services then there’s no need to pay extra for unlimited cell phone data.
You should also know that the data usage varies based on the apps you use even if these apps are similar.
For example, it might take 1GB of data to watch a 2-hour video on Netflix. If you watch a 2-hour video using the YouTube app it might take 2GB of data.
You’ll also have to keep an eye on which apps you use the most. While many consumers opt for unlimited cell phone data as it’s the easiest option. But if you don’t use apps that use up too much data, it might be wiser to downgrade to another option.
Saving Data
Whatever data plan you decide to use, you want to look into ways of saving data and reducing your bill.
One quick way to do this is to turn off your cell phone when you’re not using it. The simplest way is to turn off your smartphone at night when you’re asleep. Even when you wake up, don’t turn on your smartphone until you actually need to use it.
Even during the day, you don’t want to turn on your smartphone or keep it on when you don’t need it immediately. For example, if you’re reading this article on your laptop, can you turn off your smartphone until you finish reading it?
Keep your smartphone off for several hours during the day if you can help it. Even when you charge your smartphone you can turn it off. This helps you charge your phone much faster while also saving data.
Make sure you also delete any unused apps on your phone. Even if you seldom use them, they will take up data space as long as they’re installed.
Only keep apps that you need to use daily. Otherwise, it’s best to delete these apps and only re-install them when needed. Then you can delete them again to save your data.
Even the amount of files that you keep on your smartphone can take up data space. Clear the emails on your email app and delete your text messages as well as the ones on WhatsApp and Telegram. Make sure you have a backup of them as well!
Best Practices
Let’s end with a few best practices on how you can continue to save data as well as determine how much data you need.
For example, as mentioned in the previous section, holding onto emails and text messages can eat up much of your data. You must ask yourself if you need to have an email app on your smartphone in the first place!
Unless you need to answer and read emails urgently there’s no need to have such an app on your phone. Install it when you need it and then delete it after use.
The same goes for certain messaging apps. Both WhatsApp and Telegram have desktop applications. If you’re not always on the go then these are a better alternative than having them on your smartphone.
Likewise, you shouldn’t store too many films or songs on your smartphone. Instead stick to a streaming service to enjoy your audio and video content. Try to stick to one app that you enjoy the most. There’s no need to have both Spotify and Pandora.
If you prefer the content on Netflix, then delete the Hulu app from your smartphone.
Make sure you analyze your data usage each month to see if you can downgrade every now and then.
Get Your Cell Phone Data
Now you know how cell phone data works and can determine what’s the optimal amount for your needs.
You want to first look at how much data you use each month. This will help you determine what amount of data you can live without in most cases.
There’s always the option of unlimited cell phone data plans but only if you have the budget for it. Follow our best practices so you can limit your data usage at all times.
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