How much cellular data does youtube use

We also tested during a livestream and the data usage was about the same there as well. However, it is consistent data usage instead of chunks so those with less stable Internet connections may have buffer troubles even if your data speeds show sufficiently fast data to stream.

The last observation was how big of a range the data consumption is relative to the resolution. At p, the variance over the course of an hour is a mere 60MB. However, the variance for 4k is more than 15GB. Bitrates matter a great deal. However, YouTube uses a variable bitrate that makes exact numbers difficult to pinpoint. For instance, a low bitrate p video consumes less data than p video with a maxed out bitrate. This is fairly easy. Simply lower the resolution of the video you want to watch.

Going from p to p can cut your data usage in half. It uses about one sixth of the data dropping from p to p. Those numbers get more absurd if you go from an even higher resolution. Simply tap the three-dot menu button to choose your video quality. Some other obvious choices include switching to WiFi whenever possible. This helps ease the use on your data cap, especially for those with lower caps. Additionally, some data saving apps can help even further.

Have you ever tried to measure your YouTube data speeds? If so, tell us your results in the comments! Simply head over to Settings, and select Cellular. To update your data usage tracker, scroll down until you see Reset Statistics, and tap on it.

Selecting the right plan is also important when it comes to managing your mobile data usage. Here is a list of the best service plans for YouTube streaming. View Plans 50 GB of high-speed data per month. View Plans 30 GB of high-speed data per month.

View Plans 20 GB of high-speed data per month. View Plans GB of high-speed data per month. View Plans Unlimited high-speed data. View Plans GB of high-speed data. View Plans 40 GB of high-speed data. View Plans 35 GB of high-speed data. View Plans 60 GB of high-speed data. View Plans 20 GB of high-speed data.

We hope that this guide has given you a clear insight into how much data YouTube uses and how you can more effectively manage your mobile data consumption. Skip to content. Home Mobile Apps. Mobile Apps. Search for:. Data Consumption per Minute. Data Consumption per Hour. Carrier Network. Data Budget. As a result, reducing mobile data usage is a concern for many. If you're on Wi-Fi, you can watch YouTube videos without using data.

But anywhere else, watching YouTube consumes data. The simple answer is that transmitting video is an information-heavy operation. Video is made up of many thousands of pixels that can change several times per second, meaning there's a lot of information that has to pass through the internet to reach your device. Compared to downloading a webpage or streaming audio, video is a lot more complicated, so it uses more data. This isn't limited to just YouTube, though.

Other video streaming services use a lot of data , too. YouTube's data usage depends on the quality of video you stream. The mobile apps offer multiple levels of quality, from a low of p all the way to p 4K quality if your device supports it. Estimates for how much data each of these settings uses vary quite a bit, so let's run our own calculation to figure this out. Keep in mind that this is not exact and your results may vary.

YouTube's streaming help page contains information on recommended video bitrates for various streaming quality options. We'll use these as a baseline, though of course not every video is identical. For p video standard quality , YouTube recommends a bitrate between and 2,Kbps.

Let's average these two extremes and use 1,Kbps. Since there are eight bits in one byte, 1. Multiplying this by 60 seconds means that p video uses around 9.

Applying this same calculation process to YouTube's other quality options results in the following estimates for YouTube data usage per hour. A higher FPS results in smoother video, but also more data usage, as you'd expect:. For reference, p is considered standard definition. While 4K video isn't as widespread, many channels do provide 4K media. If you want to keep an eye on how much data you use on YouTube, both Android and iPhone provide ways to do so.

Here you'll see how much data you've used in the current billing cycle. Tap App data usage to see a breakdown by app. In this list, find YouTube and select it. You'll see a breakdown of its data usage for the current cycle; tap the dates at the top to change this. Foreground shows how much data the app used while you had it open and were actively using it. Background data shows what the app consumed while it was minimized.

Disable the Background data slider to block YouTube from using your data when you don't have it open. You should keep Unrestricted data usage turned off.

If it's enabled, YouTube can still use as much data as it wants, even when Data Saver mode is on.