In Pakistan, a WhatsApp call rarely feels free. If you are on a small Jazz, Zong or Telenor package, every long voice call and every video call quietly eats the MBs you paid for. A one-hour video call can finish a daily package on its own, and many people only notice when the balance warning arrives in the middle of a conversation.
The good news is that WhatsApp has a built-in setting made exactly for this problem, and a few other settings in the same screen can stop the silent waste around it. This guide shows you the main toggle, what it can and cannot do, how much data calls really use according to independent tests, and how to measure your own usage instead of guessing.
The Main Setting: Use Less Data for Calls
The setting you need is called Use less data for calls. It is a simple on/off toggle, and you will find it at the same place on both Android and iPhone:
WhatsApp Settings → Storage and data → Use less data for calls
Turn it on and leave it on if mobile data is tight for you. That is the whole setup. There is no slider, no level to choose and nothing else to configure.
WhatsApp’s own Help Center wording for this setting, reproduced in current guides, is simple: you can reduce the amount of data used during a WhatsApp call by turning on Use less data for calls, and you turn it on or off from Settings → Storage and data. WhatsApp describes the benefit in plain words — less data during a call — and nothing more.
The trade-off is also well documented. Turning the toggle on can reduce audio quality a little. Voices may sound slightly less clear, especially on a weak connection. If you are on Wi-Fi, or if you are making one important call where clarity matters more than data, turn the toggle off for the best quality and turn it back on afterwards. For daily calls on a mobile package, most people find the small quality difference acceptable in exchange for a lighter data bill.
WhatsApp Publishes No Official MB-per-Minute Figure
This is the point almost every guide online gets wrong, so read it carefully: WhatsApp publishes no official MB-per-minute figure for its calls. There is no official number for voice calls, no official number for video calls, no official saving percentage for the Use less data for calls toggle, and no official quality figure either.
That means any website that tells you “WhatsApp uses exactly X MB per minute” or “this setting saves you 70% data” is not quoting WhatsApp. Those numbers come from independent tests, lab measurements and estimates by other websites, and they differ from each other — sometimes by a lot.
Some guides claim the toggle saves “up to 70%” of your call data. Treat that claim as unverified. No paired controlled test — the same call measured once with the toggle on and once with it off — was found in any named source checked for this guide. Without that kind of test, no honest percentage can be given. What can be said, because WhatsApp itself says it, is that the toggle reduces the data used during a call, and guides consistently report a small cost in audio quality. Anything beyond that is an estimate, and this guide labels estimates as estimates.
A Short History, So Old Guides Do Not Confuse You
If you search for this setting, you will find old guides with different names and different menus. They are not all wrong — they are just out of date.
The setting first arrived back in 2015, under the name Low data usage, and it lived under Settings → Calls on Android. iPhone support came later. That old Calls menu no longer holds this toggle, so any guide still sending you to Settings → Calls → Low data usage is describing history, not your phone today.
The parent menu changed name too. It was once called Data and storage usage; the current name is Storage and data, and that name was already in use by late 2020. Through 2025 and 2026, the toggle has kept its current name, Use less data for calls, and its current place inside Storage and data. Different guides may call it “Low Data Usage”, “Use less data” or “Reduce data usage” — they all mean this same toggle. If the name and place in this guide match your phone, you have the right setting.
How Much Data Do WhatsApp Calls Actually Use?
Since WhatsApp gives no official figure, the honest answer is a range, with the source and year attached to each number. Older controlled tests measured less; newer guides on faster networks estimate more. Your real usage will depend on your network, your phone and whether the other person is on video.
| Call type | Figure | Source and year | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voice call | Roughly 0.15–0.20 MB per minute | Indian Express test, 2015, on 3G | Early hands-on measurement |
| Voice call | About 0.18 MB per minute | SOFSEM lab study, 2017 | Peer-reviewed lab measurement |
| Voice call | Roughly 0.3–1 MB per minute | 2026 guides and vendor estimates | Modern-network estimate range |
| Voice call | About 30 MB per hour at 0.5 MB per minute | Arithmetic from the 2026 estimates | Useful for package planning |
| Video call | Roughly 2.5–5 MB per minute | 2026 guide estimates | Lower estimate range for video |
| Video call | Commonly about 5 MB per minute, roughly 300 MB per hour | 2026 guide estimates | Typical figure guides cite |
| Video call | Up to about 8 MB per minute with HD | One 2026 estimate | HD pushes video higher |
| Video call | 74 MB total for a 10-minute call (7.4 MB per minute average), with low-data mode on | TechRT hands-on test | A single named real-world test |
Read the table the right way. For a voice call on a modern 4G connection, planning with roughly 0.3 to 1 MB per minute is reasonable, which is why the middle figure of 0.5 MB per minute — about 30 MB for a full hour of voice — is useful for package math. A ten-minute voice call might use only 3 to 10 MB. That is cheap.
Video is a different world. At the commonly cited figure of about 5 MB per minute, a video call uses roughly 300 MB in an hour. Thirty minutes of daily video calling can therefore cost around 150 MB a day, or several GB in a month — more than many small packages contain. HD makes it heavier still, and one hands-on test measured 74 MB for just ten minutes of video even with low-data mode switched on. If your package keeps running out, video calls are almost always the reason, not voice calls.
One more honest warning about scope: WhatsApp’s wording for the toggle says it reduces data “during a WhatsApp call” without separating voice and video, and guides disagree on whether video calls are actually affected by it. So do not rely on the toggle to make video calls cheap. It may help, but that is not settled, and the safe plan on a small package is to keep video calls short or move them to Wi-Fi.
Measure Your Own Usage Instead of Guessing
Other people’s estimates are a starting point. Your own phone can tell you the truth, and WhatsApp has a screen for exactly this.
Go to Settings → Storage and data → Network usage. This screen shows how much data WhatsApp has used, broken down by activity: call data, media data, message data and status data are listed separately, along with message counts and call information. Roaming data is shown as its own separate line, which is very useful after a trip.
At the bottom of the same screen is Reset statistics. Tap it and all the counters go back to zero. That is the practical way to measure anything: reset the statistics, make your normal calls for one day or one week, then open Network usage again and read your real call data. Now you know what an hour of your calling actually costs on your network, with your contacts, on your phone — no guide’s estimate can beat that.
Your phone has a second counter as a backup check. On Android, go to Settings → Apps → WhatsApp → Mobile data usage to see the app’s total mobile data for the period. It will not split calls from media the way WhatsApp’s own screen does, but it is a good independent cross-check.
Other Settings in the Same Screen That Save Data
Storage and data holds more than the call toggle. Two neighbours matter a lot in Pakistan, where automatic downloads quietly burn packages in group chats full of videos.
The first is Media auto-download. On Android, it is split into separate groups for each connection: When using mobile data, When connected on Wi-Fi, and When roaming. Each group has its own checkboxes for Photos, Audio, Videos and Documents. A sensible setup for a small package is: on mobile data, allow Photos only (or nothing at all); on Wi-Fi, allow everything; and when roaming, allow nothing. On iPhone, the structure is the other way round — you pick per media type (Photos, Audio, Video, Documents) and choose Never, Wi-Fi, or Wi-Fi and Cellular for each one. Set Videos to Wi-Fi only and you stop the biggest silent waste.
The second neighbour is Media upload quality, with Standard and HD options. Be clear about what this one does: it controls the size of photos and videos you send. Standard sends a compressed, smaller file; HD sends a larger one. It affects your sending data, not your call data, so changing it will not make calls cheaper — but choosing Standard does help if you send a lot of media on mobile data.
Group Calls: The Heaviest Calls of All
Group voice and video calls on WhatsApp support up to 32 people, and they are the heaviest calls you can make. In group calls, each participant’s stream is relayed through WhatsApp’s servers, so the data reflects multiple streams at once. Add video and screen sharing — the two heaviest features inside a call — and a long group video call can drain a package faster than anything else in this guide.
The practical rule is simple: for long group calls on a small package, prefer voice-only. Turn cameras off, avoid screen sharing unless you really need it, and save group video for Wi-Fi. A voice-only group call still costs more than a one-to-one voice call, but it stays in a completely different league from group video.
Android Data Saver Helps — But Not During a Live Call
Android has its own system-level tool, and it is worth turning on, as long as you understand what it actually does. In Google’s own description, when Data Saver is on, most apps and services get background data only via Wi-Fi. The catch is in the same description: apps and services you are actively using can still use mobile data.
That means Data Saver does not throttle or block a live WhatsApp call you are taking part in. A call is active use, so it flows normally. What Data Saver does stop is the background waste — syncing, auto-downloads and other apps quietly using your package while the phone sits in your pocket. That is still valuable in Pakistan; it just is not a call-saving tool by itself.
You will find it at Settings → Network & internet → Data Saver on Pixel phones, with similar paths on other brands. If an app must keep working in the background even with Data Saver on — WhatsApp is a common choice, so calls and messages arrive instantly — open Settings → Network & internet → Data Saver → Unrestricted data and allow that app there.
iPhone Low Data Mode Works Differently
On iPhone, the equivalent is Low Data Mode, available since iOS 13. It is not one global switch. It is set per connection: separately for each cellular line, and separately for each Wi-Fi network. You set it for mobile data from the Cellular Data Options / Data Mode area in Settings, and for a Wi-Fi network by tapping the (i) next to that network’s name.
Apple’s documented effects are system-level — pausing automatic updates and background tasks and reducing some quality in the background. Apple does not document any WhatsApp-specific behaviour for it, and, importantly, iOS has no per-app exemption list for Low Data Mode. On Android you can exempt a single app; on iPhone, to exempt WhatsApp you have to turn Low Data Mode off for that cellular line or that Wi-Fi network entirely. And like Android’s Data Saver, it is a background-data control — the call-specific control for WhatsApp remains the in-app Use less data for calls toggle.
Roaming: Where WhatsApp Data Gets Expensive
Everything in this guide matters twice as much when you are travelling, because roaming data is the most expensive data most Pakistanis will ever use. WhatsApp’s own roaming tips are straightforward: connect to Wi-Fi to avoid data roaming charges, and turn mobile data or data roaming off while abroad when you do not need it.
Build your roaming setup from this guide’s tools. Before a trip, turn on Use less data for calls. Set the When roaming auto-download group to no media, so not a single photo or video downloads over the roaming connection — this group is the in-app roaming control, and setting it to nothing is the single strongest step here. Prefer Wi-Fi for calls abroad, especially video calls. Then, during and after the trip, watch the roaming line in Network usage (reset the statistics before you leave) so you can see exactly what roaming cost you instead of finding out from your balance.
Remember that the roaming auto-download setting only stops downloads. A call you actually place while roaming will still use roaming data, which is why the Wi-Fi-first rule matters most.
Protect IP Address in Calls: Privacy, Not a Data Setting
You may notice another call-related toggle at Settings → Privacy → Advanced, called Protect IP address in calls, available since November 2023. It does what its name says: instead of connecting directly to the other phone, your calls are relayed through WhatsApp’s servers, which hides your IP address from the other person. WhatsApp’s documented trade-off for it is slightly reduced call quality.
Mention it here for one reason: do not use it as a data tool, and do not believe anyone who gives it a data figure. WhatsApp publishes no data-consumption figure for this setting, so nobody can honestly claim it raises or lowers your MB per minute. Turn it on for privacy if that matters to you, knowing quality may dip slightly, and leave it out of your package calculations entirely.
What Changed for WhatsApp Calls in 2026
The data toggle itself did not change in 2026 — October 2026 guides still show the same name in the same place. The changes were to call quality features. In July 2026, WhatsApp announced QuickHD, which brings HD quality from the very first moment of a video call instead of ramping up slowly, plus a Noise Suppression toggle to cut background noise during calls.
Both sound good, and for people on Wi-Fi they are. But note the honest limit: WhatsApp published no data figures for either feature. QuickHD logically means more data early in a video call, since HD starts immediately, but that is direction, not a measured number. If you are counting MBs, the arrival of QuickHD is one more reason to keep the Use less data for calls toggle on and to save long video calls for Wi-Fi.
A Simple Plan for a Small Package
Put it all together and the routine takes two minutes. Turn on Use less data for calls and leave it on. Set media auto-download so videos wait for Wi-Fi, on both mobile data and roaming. Choose Standard in Media upload quality if you send media often. Use Android Data Saver or iPhone Low Data Mode for background waste, knowing they will not slow a live call. Prefer voice-only for long and group calls, and move video calls to Wi-Fi whenever you can. Finally, reset the statistics in Network usage once, check your numbers after a week, and you will know your real costs instead of worrying about them.
For how different settings and independent sources line up on WhatsApp data use, the guide by Lilach Bullock walks through the same Storage and data screen and reproduces WhatsApp’s own wording for the call toggle, which matches the steps and cautions set out above.
Also read: Cheapest Monthly Internet Packages in Pakistan and WhatsApp Storage Full? Complete Fix Guide
FAQs
Where is the Use less data for calls setting?
Go to WhatsApp Settings → Storage and data and turn on the toggle labelled Use less data for calls. The path is the same on Android and iPhone. It does not live under a Calls menu anymore — that was its home back in 2015, when it was called Low data usage.
How much data does a one-minute WhatsApp voice call use?
WhatsApp publishes no official figure. Independent results give a range: older controlled tests measured roughly 0.15 to 0.20 MB per minute (Indian Express, 2015, on 3G) and about 0.18 MB per minute in a 2017 lab study, while 2026 guides estimate roughly 0.3 to 1 MB per minute on modern networks. At a middle estimate of 0.5 MB per minute, an hour of voice calls uses about 30 MB.
How much data does a WhatsApp video call use per hour?
Guides commonly cite about 5 MB per minute for video, which works out to roughly 300 MB per hour. Other guides put video at 2.5 to 5 MB per minute, HD can push it up to around 8 MB per minute in one estimate, and a hands-on test measured 74 MB for a ten-minute video call with low-data mode on. Video is far heavier than voice in every source, which is why Wi-Fi is recommended for long video calls.
Will the Use less data for calls toggle save me 70% data?
No verified percentage exists. WhatsApp documents only that the toggle reduces data used during a call, at a possible cost to audio quality. No paired test measuring the same call with the toggle on and off was found in any named source, so claims of savings “up to 70%” are unverified. The surest way to know your own saving is to use Network usage: reset the statistics, call normally for a few days with the toggle on, and compare with your earlier usage.