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How much data should you choose?

Carrier estimates for everyday travel apps, how to see what your phone really uses, and how to choose between a total and a daily allowance.

By · 4 min read

Clay illustration of a hand in a green sleeve holding a green phone that shows a yellow SIM card with a tick and a progress bar, surrounded by a yuzu fruit, a plane ticket, a globe, a yellow suitcase and small clouds.

Start with how you travel

The right amount of data depends less on the length of your trip than on what you do with your phone each day. A week of maps, messages and photos needs far less than a week that includes streaming shows on the train.

For a sense of scale, Verizon describes light use, mostly social media and texting, as under 5 GB a month, and moderate to heavy use, with streaming and web browsing, as 6 to 12 GB a month.

The figures below come from mobile carriers and service providers. They are averages, and EE notes that your own use may come in a little higher or lower depending on your quality settings and the apps you use.

What everyday apps use

Light use

  • Maps and navigation: about 100 to 200 KB a minute, according to EE. That works out at roughly 6 to 12 MB for an hour of navigation.
  • Messaging: Vodafone estimates that 1 GB covers over 1.5 million WhatsApp messages without pictures or video, or about 1,000 emails.
  • Photos: EE puts uploading a photo at about 1.5 MB, so sharing 20 photos a day adds up to around 30 MB.

Medium use

  • Web browsing: about 1 to 4 MB a minute (EE).
  • Social media: about 1 to 2 MB a minute for Facebook (EE).
  • Music streaming: about 1 to 2 MB a minute (EE), or just over 115 MB an hour at high quality (Vodafone).

Heavy use

  • Video calls: anywhere from about 90 MB to 1.4 GB an hour, depending on quality (EE, based on Skype).
  • Streaming video: Netflix estimates up to 0.3 GB an hour on its low setting, up to 0.7 GB on medium, and up to 3 GB an hour in HD. Its Save Data option on mobile gives about 6 hours of viewing per GB.

A useful rule of thumb follows from those numbers: messages, maps and photos rarely decide your plan, but video does.

Two easy savings help. Download shows and playlists on Wi-Fi before a long journey, and save offline maps for the areas you will visit. Offline maps have limits, though: Google notes that transit, cycling and walking directions are not available offline, so you will still want some data for trains and walks.

Hotspots and laptops

If you plan to share your phone’s connection, check your plan page first. Hotspot use is set plan by plan, so look for it before you buy rather than after.

Verizon lists mobile hotspot use among its high-data activities, alongside cloud backups and streaming, and a laptop can use a lot in the background with software updates, backups and file syncing. Two settings help:

  • Windows: go to Settings > Network & internet > Wi-Fi, select the network you are connected to and turn on Metered connection. Windows then downloads only priority updates, and some apps and syncing may pause.
  • Mac: go to System Settings > Wi-Fi, click Details next to your network and turn on Low Data Mode.

Check what your phone has used

Your phone keeps a running count, which makes it a simple way to learn your own habits before you choose a plan.

iPhone. Open Settings, then Mobile Data (Cellular on some iPhones). The list shows how much each app has used in the current period, with System Services further down. If your iPhone has more than one line, you see the figures for the line selected for mobile data. Tap Reset Statistics at the bottom when you land, and the count will cover only your trip.

To cut background use, turn on Low Data Mode in Settings > Mobile Data > Mobile Data Options (on some iPhones it sits under Data Mode). It pauses automatic updates and background tasks and turns off Background App Refresh. With two lines, choose the line first, then turn it on.

Android on a Google Pixel. Open Settings > Network & internet > SIMs, then App data usage, and pick the time period. Under Data warning & limit, you can set a warning, or a limit that turns mobile data off when you reach it.

Samsung Galaxy. Open Settings > Connections > Data usage, then Mobile data usage to see each app. Data saver stops apps from using data in the background.

Menu names can vary between phone models and software versions, so if a path does not match exactly, search your phone’s Settings for “data usage”.

Total or daily allowance

When you compare plans, look closely at the allowance type:

  • A total allowance gives you one amount for the whole trip. It suits uneven travel: a quiet day in a temple town leaves more for a day of video calls later.
  • A daily allowance gives you a fresh amount each day. It suits steady use, and a single heavy day cannot use up the whole trip. Check the plan page for when each day’s amount renews and whether anything carries over.

Whichever shape you choose, read three details on the plan page before you pay: how much data you get, when the days start counting, and what the plan does once the allowance is used up.

A simple way to size it: add up a normal day from the lists above, multiply by the days of your trip, and add a margin for the day you end up navigating a new city in the rain.