We live in an age where everything we do on our phones consumes data. Most people use their phones at home and work while connected to wi-fi, so it doesn't really use up your Wireless carrier's data plan. But when you're on the road, all bets are off.

Thanksgiving vacation for us meant traveling out of town to meet family. Approximately 12 hours spent in the car with 2 adults and 2 kids from Wednesday night to Saturday night. We ended up using 2 iPhones with Verizon LTE or 3G data. So how much data did we use for all that we did with our phones?

radioPup streaming radio app
CJ/TSM Utica
loading...

A good portion of our time on the road was spent listening to my iPhone streaming our local radio station through the radioPup app. You can find out more on a computer by clicking here. From an Android device (phone or tablet) click here. From an Apple device (iPhone or iPad) click here. This certainly uses data, but does it use more or less than other Smart Phone apps?

Google Maps on Phone
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
loading...

While I was driving, I was also using the phone's Google Maps app for navigation. I made sure I had a nice dashboard mounted holder so I could see the map without being distracted from the road. This also uses data and quite a bit of battery life. It's always a good idea to make sure your phone is connected to a power source or you won't be hearing those Google directions for long.

Gas Station
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
loading...

At rest areas and gas stations, I was frequently checking e-mail. Working at the radio station means I often get commercials or music sent to my e-mail, and downloading these and listening on the phone definitely chews up a decent amount of data. Not as much as streaming videos from Netflix, but it all adds up.

Social Media On Phones
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
loading...

My wife was providing additional navigation from her iPhone. She also did her fair share of texting, watching videos on Facebook and YouTube, as well as SnapChat and who knows what other streaming services. When I check data usage on my phone, it generally shows me that Facebook uses the most. So on the road, you know that definitely consumes a great deal.

Check out our full data usage below.


What can you do with a Carbone Nissan with Bluetooth NISSANCONNECT℠?

Carbone Nissan
CJ/TSM Utica
loading...

Nissan offers a unique way to connect your phone to your car through Bluetooth. Remember, you're still using your phone plan's data. Bluetooth also tends to use more battery on your phone, so it's best to leave it connected to your car's power source.

Carbone Nissan
CJ/TSM Utica
loading...

Depending on the Nissan model, your phone carrier and your phone brand, connecting your phone will give you lots of options. You can use your phone to place and answer calls hands free, with easy access to your phonebook. Caller ID and Call Waiting are also available. You can receive text messages and easily read them on your screen, but it still restricts you from typing and sending messages. If your Nissan comes with a Navigation System, you can easily use it as a GPS without having to look at a separate screen. If not, you can still use your phone for navigation and listen to the directions over the vehicles' speakers.

Carbone Nissan
CJ/TSM Utica
loading...

One of my favorite features is audio streaming and easy playback controls. It really does keep you driving safely while still enjoying all of the connected benefits of traveling with your phone.

Check out what features are available with NISSANCONNECT on a Nissan Rogue by clicking here.


On our mini-vacation, we restricted our kids to DVD's only, so we weren't using our data to stream videos from Netflix or Hulu. If you are a Verizon Wireless customer, you know the different data packages they offer, and if you go over your monthly data, you are charged a ridiculous amount. That's why we opted for a 6gb data plan - so we wouldn't have to worry about overages, and still get to use all the features of our smart phones. Here's a look at our data usage for approximately the past 15 days, including the data-heavy vacation:

Verizon WIreless Account Usage
CJ/TSM Utica
loading...

Here's a look at what apps used the most data:

Verizon Wireless Data Usage
CJ/TSM Utica
loading...

So we probably could have let the kids play and stream to their heart's content! My "techy" solution would have been to make one of our phones a HotSpot and connect an iPad to that network.

How much data do you use on your Smart Phones and Tablets?

 

More From Lite 98.7