Android Navigator - bandwidth usage results

lmimmfn

I thought i would post this just for anyone who would like to have some information on data usage of Navigator if they plan to use their phone as a Sat Nav( i know i would have liked this info before ).
Its the first time i tried it and basically had next to no data usage before i used it( as i wanted to know myself how much it would use before i decided to use it regularly ).

Anyways, i used a HTC desire. I drove 98Km( but had to take a detour in dublin for about 30 mins - baby ) to Dublin.
Total bandwidth usage over 1hour 50 mins was approximately 6.5Meg, calculating the journey used up about 1.7Meg of that total( so you could use a lot less if you setup the journey over wifi ). We didnt want to take the exact route it proposed so it had to recalculate the journey about 3 times.

Battery wise, the HTC desire was 90% charged before leaving and was dead after we arrived( about 10 minutes afterwards, and turing GPS and data off when we arrived ).

The above is only an example( based on my Meteor account info which covered data usage over the time of the trip ), but wow, im extremely impressed with how low the data usage is. Approximating the above and our 30minute stop i would say its about 4.8Meg per hour on a precalculated trip( excluding the initial 1.7Meg for trip planning ).

I will definately be getting a car charger to use this in future.

My impressions of it as a Sat Nav, its very good except it calls roundabouts "traffic circles" lol, also it got a few 1 way streets and no right turns wrong in dublin city centre, but tbh most sat navs have that issue. Its very good as a sat nav.

It could be good if others could post results also so we all get a better idea of the data usage and any anomolies which might arise.

Hope this is useful for someone considering getting a smart phone to double as sat nav and get an idea of data usage.

Heres a summary:
Phone used: HTC Desire - battery time with GPS and 3G enabled - about 2 hours.
1hour 14minute trip - total usage 6.5Meg
Initial trip plan usage - 1.7Meg

kenyard

yeah battery gets eaten alright. i just use it when i need to. main road is fine like signs and what not. just when u get into the city you do need it i guess

nice to know the data doesnt get eaten. though i was thinking the gps isnt using data, its just google maps that uses data...

lmimmfn

kenyard wrote: »

yeah battery gets eaten alright. i just use it when i need to. main road is fine like signs and what not. just when u get into the city you do need it i guess

nice to know the data doesnt get eaten. though i was thinking the gps isnt using data, its just google maps that uses data...

yeah tbh i could have just turned it on when i got to dublin, but i wanted a proper run of it to get average data usage.

The GPS doesnt use data of course, its only the downloads from the route and recalculations of the route if you dont take the proposed one.