Wearable Gadgets and Mobile Data Use

What do Android Wear SmartWatches, Pebble SmartWatches, Fitness Trackers and Google Glass have in common? They all tether to your mobile phone and consume mobile data in the background. Most people do not realize it but the amount of data these devices silently consume in the background could possibly put you over your data limit and make you incur additional charges. How much data do these devices really consume in the period of a month?

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I have put together the following chart outlining the average amount of data that each of my devices use throughout the typical month from typical daily use. Your results on items such as Google Glass will vary depending on the amount of pictures/videos shot per month. In my case, I shot around 120 photos in a month. You should also expect to see spikes in use when OTA Upgrades are performed.

Product	Average Amount Of Data Per Month
Android Wear SmartWatch	300 MB – 700 MB
Fitness Tracker	25 MB – 50 MB
Google Glass	200 MB – 800 MB
External Cameras	250 MB –∞ GB
Pebble SmartWatch	25 MB – 150 MB
TrackR Bluetooth Beacon	15 MB – 20 MB

As you can see, owning one, or more wearable devices can quickly consume copious amounts of data per month. A person with a 2GB monthly cap who normally uses 1.5 GB per month can easily be racking up overage charges by simply adding an Android Wear SmartWatch to their collection without realizing it until they get their bill in the mail. My personal collection of Wearable Devices easily consume around 1.5 GB of data per month.

External Cameras such as the HTC RE, Samsung Galaxy Gear Live SmartWatchesand even Google Glass can consume an infinite amount of data if you are a shutterbug who backs everything up to the cloud while you are on the move.

As the “Internet Of Things” continues its growth, I can see this chart spanning several hundred columns with the hundreds of new devices expected to launch in the next few years. I am writing this as a PSA to all people who have decided to add a new device to their collection over the holiday week. If you are currently teetering close to your data limit, it would be wise to call your carrier today to upgrade your plan. If you have a carrier with “Unlimited” Data, no action is needed on your part.