Data Usage

[jbsg02]

Hey guys, I'm a Sprint Evo user looking at possibly moving to Verizon and looking at the Bionic. Can some people chime in and tell me how much data they use on average per month. Is the 2GB enough for most people? I don't get close to 2GB on sprint, but then again, I'm not on LTE!

 

[Tosa90]

I'm on the unlimited data plan and i have so far used 2.043GB in the 10 fays I've had my Bionic.

It all depends what you use your phone for.

I use mine for streaming Slacker radio for 8+ hours a day as well as web browsing. Its also a new phone ao I've been using it more than usual.

If you do get the phone and start getting close to the 2GB cap you can upgrade during the current billin period and they will only charg you the difference between the old and new plan.

 

[jbsg02]

I'm on the unlimited data plan and i have so far used 2.043GB in the 10 fays I've had my Bionic.

It all depends what you use your phone for.

I use mine for streaming Slacker radio for 8+ hours a day as well as web browsing. Its also a new phone ao I've been using it more than usual.

If you do get the phone and start getting close to the 2GB cap you can upgrade during the current billin period and they will only charg you the difference between the old and new plan.

yeah, paying $50 a month for 5gb of data makes me rethink about switching though

 

[chrisv79]

I would have to tell you to probably stick with Sprint unless you think you will be mostly using Wi-Fi. Since last Friday, I have used almost 1.5 GB on my Bionic. Granted, some of that is playing around with my new phone, but I rarely ever went over 1GB on my Incredible every 30 days. I just don't think 2GB is going to cut it on LTE if you use the device the way it is meant to be used. I would probibly not be using LTE if I did not have my unlimited plan.

 

[jbsg02]

i should have stuck with verizon many years ago, then I would have been grandfathered in on the unlimited

 

[LrdAnkh]

I am in the unlimited plan and have had mine for 7 days and i am up past the 2 GB already.

 

[ryanbroham]

I just checked and I'm nearly at 10 gigs after 9 days!!! I don't think I ever came close to that on my OG Droid in any given month, but with LTE I've been streaming Netflix on my hour long daily train rides as well as Pandora and other radio apps nearly all day everyday.

 

[Lars]

You can burn through the data allowance in a half hour if you want on LTE. VZW is going to stick it to a lot of peeps.

 

[drudometkin]

I have had a slow night at work tonight and have used 1gb in the last 2-3 hrs.

 

[rogue_slc_vzw_rep]

just because its lte doesnt mean you use more. you dont use more gas, you just get there faster. if you sit there playing on it, whether it be on 3g or lte you, will use a lot of data.

 

[frankie15]

I've had the bionic since release on 9/8. I'm on a 2GB plan and have only used 160mb. I haven't been conservative really either. I have wifi at home and wifi at school (both 30mbps speeds which is faster than 4G LTE in my area). I don't really care for streaming movies/music much. I have my music collection on Google Music and have my favorite albums stored for offline play. I will watch the occasional YouTube video here and there too.

If you are very heavy on streaming music/movies, then you will likely need more than 2GB. If not, 2GB is plenty IMO.

 

[Lars]

Y5 Battery saver should be called Y5 Data saver because it saves on data use too. I agree that for normal email and such usage, 2Gig is plenty. If you have an app that automatically switches wifi on and off you save battery and data which is great! The phone goes twice as long on wifi instead of cell data.

Even Netflix and Youtube don't use more bandwidth than what 3G provides. I think people will tend to go hog wild though.

 

[matt576gt]

The 2 GB plan blows. I upgraded a couple days ago (from an enV 3 LOL) and had to add the 2 GB plan. Because I'm a poor college student it's kinda hard to shell out 50 bucks a month for 5 GB. It's been 4 days since I got the phone and I'm at 91 MB but that's with barely any use.

Thankfully I'm in WI-FI a lot of the time, but it sucks Verizon advertises the 4G network and all the stuff you can do with it but doesn't have a data plan structure to make use of it. If you used the phone the way Verizon intended you'd blow through 2 GB in 5 days, not even joking. Thats like 4 hours of netflix.

Praying to the Verizon Gods they offer the unlimited plan for a limited time for users to upgrade to, or change their data tier pricing. 30 bucks should get you 5 GB AT LEAST.

 

[redawg77]

Matt, I completely agree. VZW brags about all this speed and the ability to stream HD videos, netflix, etc. However, their data plan is insufficient to watch even a single netflix movie per month on top of other normal use.

This is borderline criminal, given the fact that all VZW reps seem to have learned bogus facts in training (99% of users will not come close to the 2GB limit). This is misleading. Perhaps on 3G I would be safe, but on 4G I could go over 2GB in a DAY without much effort.

My wife has a blackberry with unlimited on the same account as my bionic. I have gone around and around with VZW on getting that plan switched to my number, replacing hers with tiered (she uses less than a quarter of a gig). No dice. They have been kind enough to offer me 5GB of data at 50$ a month. No thanks, I'll take my chances and pay 10$ per extra gig. Maybe when my wife's contract is up, we can get a droid on that number as well and switch numbers, since I'm a much heavier data user. But why won't VZW help us avoid the hassle of swapping numbers? I don't want to spend months fielding calls from her friends and family.

Ugh.

 

[Duckster]

Believe it or not, I have had my Bionic for about 2 weeks and I have only used .047 GB. Yes, "point zero four seven" GB. I have Wifi at work and at home so I religiously use it. I also have an app where I can turn off 3G/4G unless I need it (i.e. away from home/work where there is not Wifi). So far, it has served me well. I don't really do YouTube or streaming but I will heavily surf the internet and look at some streams...but nothing too heavy.

This is how it is now...but things could easily change. Remember when they came out with 540 MB hard drives and we were told "this is the only HD you will ever need?" I'm waiting for that lie to get told about my 2GB plan!