iPhone 5 Users Are 'Hungriest' Data Consumers

Are you hungry for some data? According to a new report from Arieso, iPhone 5 owners are the "hungriest" data consumers, though Samsung Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II owners aren't exactly conserving their bandwidth.

Overall, smartphone users are now consuming more data than tablet owners, which Arieso said is a first. Among the top 10 devices used by the biggest data hogs, six were smartphones, three were tablets, and one was a "phablet."

Overall, Arieso studied 125 devices, with the iPhone 5 landing at No. 1. Those with the iPhone 5 eat up four times as much data as their iPhone 3G-toting counterparts and 50 percent more than iPhone 4S users.

But Samsung Galaxy S III users also generate - upload vs. download - nearly four times the amount of data than iPhone 3G users. On uplink data, the iPhone 5 landed at No. 3 behind the Galaxy S III and Note II. Meanwhile, Samsung Tab 2 10.1 users consumed 20 percent more data than iPad users, Arieso found.

"This is pretty counterintuitive, but it seems the capabilities of the newest smartphones ? not tablets - are unleashing even greater user demand. Once you move away from raw consumption statistics, the most remarkable finding is the way in which people use smartphones and tablets," study author and Arieso CTO, Dr. Michael Flanagan, said in a statement. "Regardless of device type and operating system, there is very little variation in the usage 'signature' between smartphone users and between tablet users. From this we discover that voice-capable 'phablets' ? like the Samsung Galaxy Note II - are currently being used like smartphones, not tablets. If you can use it to make a phone call, the 'phablet' won't be much like a tablet at all."

Not surprisingly, data-hungry users are increasingly moving to 4G LTE networks. Last year, 1 percent of users consumed 50 percent of the downlink data on 3G/UMTS networks. This year, 1 percent consumed 40 percent as more people moved to LTE, particularly with dongles.

"The region we studied this year has recently launched LTE, and we're already seeing extreme users ? especially those with dongles ? starting to flock to 4G," said Flanagan.

Arieso pulled its data from an unnamed "tier-one European operator," but the firm said its stats are relevant to carriers worldwide "because relative consumption between device users remains constant between geographies."

The first 4G network in the U.K. recently went live via Everything Everywhere. In the U.S., Verizon is on track to complete the rollout of its 4G LTE network later this year, while AT&T and Sprint are making gains with their networks. T-Mobile is expected to start a 4G LTE rollout this year.

This is the third annual data consumption report from Arieso. In 2012, the company found that iPhone 4S users consumed three times as much data as those on the iPhone 3G and twice as much as those on the iPhone 4. Flanagan suggested that Siri might be to blame, but later clarified that the iPhone's voice-activated system was not entirely at fault.

For more from Chloe, follow her on Twitter @ChloeAlbanesius.

Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2414254,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05039TX1K0000762

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