Best Chat Apps Comparison I

Data & battery usage for chat apps: WeChat Whatsapp, Skype, Tango, Viber & more!

This contents of this app is for informational purposes only. It presents real-world results of data usage and battery consumption of the most popular chat, messenger or texting apps under standard conditions. WeChat Whatsapp, Skype, Tango, Viber, Facebook Messenger, Hangouts (formerly Google Talk), KakaoTalk, LINE, Nimbuzz, ooVoo are the most downloaded texting apps for Android smartphhones and tablets, and as such were reviewed in this comparitive analysis.

Texting, messenger or chat apps that use internet data instead of network carrier services like traditional SMS has created a much more affordable way to communicate with text. The proliferation of smartphone apps that provide this functionality can help users reduce messenging costs by using internet data to send messeges instead of through SMS. Using chat apps over a wi-fi internet connection can result in messages that are vitually free (depending on the wi-fi plan), but making calls using 3G / HSDPA / LTE can incur network carrier costs. The question is how much data do these chat apps use, as this will determine whether it is a more cost effective way of sending text messages. In addition, since these apps need to be on standby in the background in order to provide an alternative to recieving text messages, the standby data consumption and battery usage is also an important consideration when deciding which app to use. Results of real world testing of data consumption and battery usage is presented here, to help users make informed decisions on which apps best suite their needs.