Fire TV Stick: Data Usage Insights & TV-Off-Mode Consumption

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Whether you’re streaming on the go or monitoring your monthly data usage, understanding your Firestick’s consumption is crucial. Dive in as we explore Firestick’s data use compared to other devices, optimal internet plans, and tips to manage its consumption.

How Much Data Does Firestick Use?

If I knew how much data a Firestick uses, perhaps I wouldn’t have run out of data. That’s why this is an important question.

It’s essential to note that data figures might differ depending on what you are streaming, whether standard definition, high definition, or even 4K. 

With that said, streaming standard-definition videos using an Amazon Firestick uses approximately one gigabyte of data per hour. 

Streaming HD video uses about six to seven gigabytes of data for a movie that is 90 minutes long (that’s about 3 or 4 gigabytes per hour). While 4K uses 10GB per hour.

In other words, if you’re like most people and enjoy three hours of TV every day after work, expect to use about 90 gigabytes of data in one month for SD movies and 210 gigabytes for HD movies. That’s a lot!

If you’re concerned about the amount of data you’re using and want to know the amount you’ve used in any given month, the Fire Stick makes it easy to do so.

How do you check your data usage? You can do so by checking the Fire Sticks Data Monitoring feature.

• Simply head to your Home Screen.
• Click on Settings.
• You’ll see Preferences on your right. Click on it.
• Navigate to Data Monitoring.
• To enable this feature, click On.

With this feature, you can also set a data cap that sends you a notification once you’ve used that amount of data. It’s pretty handy if you’re budgeting data.

Does a Firestick Use More Data Than a Roku?

To be upfront, it depends on how you use each device. Therefore, a Firestick can use more data than a Roku, but let’s elaborate. 

Although we gave you an example of how much data a Firestick uses per month in the above section, pinpointing an exact amount is tough, especially because it depends on how you use the Firestick.

However, some users suggest that the Firestick uses up to four times more data than a Roku. But is that true? Let’s take a look at some hard numbers for you.

Earlier, we stated that a Firestick uses about one gigabyte per hour if you’re streaming an SD video. So, how does that compare to Roku? And does a Roku stick use more data?

As it turns out, Roku does not use more data than a Firestick. In fact, a Roku uses roughly the same amount.

A Roku stick uses about 800 megabytes per hour for a video that’s standard definition.

However, just like the Firestick, it depends on the resolution of the content you’re viewing. For example, a Firestick or Roku will use more data if you’re streaming a 4K video. 

However, it’s the 4K quality video that determines the amount of data each device is using, not the other way around.

Best Internet Plan for Amazon Fire Stick?

As I learned during my vacation, having a Wi-Fi hotspot for streaming content for weeks is not good enough. 

That’s because it has a data cap. So, eventually, you’ll run out of data for streaming. So, what is the best internet plan for an Amazon Firestick?

First things first, ensure your internet plan does not have low data caps the way a Wi-Fi hotspot would. But that’s only part of the equation.

To ensure smooth streaming, a slow internet speed leads to buffering, and who loves an interrupted movie?

For smooth streaming, an internet speed of at least 20 Mbps is good enough, even if you’re streaming 4K videos.

Next, ensure your data plan does not have data caps. If you love movie marathons or binge-watching your favorite Netflix series, call your internet provider and see if they have any unlimited data plans available. This will save you trouble in the long run.

How Much Data Does a Hotspot Use for a Firestick?

A Firestick uses the same amount of data connected to a mobile hotspot as it does when connected to wifi. Therefore an unlimited hotspot plan is essential.

So, with standard definition content, expect to use about one gigabyte of data per hour. This is the lowest amount of data it will use.

If you love HD content, expect to use about six to seven gigabytes of data per movie (or 1.5 hours).

Many hotspot plans have a data cap of about five gigabytes per day. Therefore, this might not be enough.

How to Stop a Firestick From Using Data?

Firesticks are fantastic little gadgets. However, even if your TV is off, and you’re not actively using the device, it still consumes data. 

As it turns out, an inactive Firestick uses about 20kb/s of data. Unplugging your device and turning it off is the only way your Fire Stick will not use data.

However, reconnecting it every time you want to use it isn’t very pleasant. So, what do we do in this case?

Although you cannot stop the Firestick from using data, you can reduce the amount of data it uses.

Reduce a Firestick’s Data Consumption

Another way to drastically reduce the data consumption of your Firestick is to head to your Data Monitoring settings and set your video quality to its lowest setting. In this case, set it to “Good.”

Please note that this setting will reduce video quality a noticeable amount. However, data streaming will now be reduced to about 0.3 gigabytes per hour.

That’s a whole lot less data!

Also, let’s not forget about the screensaver. The screensaver uses a lot of data. Therefore, turning it off is an excellent way to reduce data consumption.

Many times, your screensaver is on in the background. So, head to your Screensaver settings and choose “Turn on: Never.”

Another way to reduce data consumption is to turn off auto-updates. The Fire Stick updates are enabled automatically by default; therefore, turning it off will save you from using data you might not want to use.

To do so, navigate to Settings, then Applications.

Select Appstore.

Then select Automatic Updates and switch it to Off.

This will ensure you reduce your data consumption.

Conclusion

An Amazon Firestick is a data guzzler. It uses about one gigabyte per hour when streaming standard-definition videos. If you’re streaming high-definition videos, expect to use about six to seven gigabytes per movie.

Fortunately for you, there are ways you can reduce the amount of data it consumes. 

We hope this article helped you budget your data plan or find an unlimited data plan that works for you.

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