How does video calling affect your battery life?

‘Work from home, unless it’s absolutely necessary to do otherwise,’ that is the current mandate from the government. This means that many people in the Netherlands are now working from home, likely including you. As a result, your meetings are now digital instead of face-to-face. Video calling is very practical because within seconds, you can connect with a large group of people remotely. However, such a video call can have a negative effect on your device’s battery life.

What is video calling?

During this coronavirus crisis, it is more important than ever to stay digitally connected. With just a few clicks, you can be connected with someone remotely. The difference between regular calling and video calling is that, in video calls, you not only hear each other but also see each other. You can video call as long as you have a device suitable for it, such as a laptop, desktop computer, smartphone, or tablet. You also need an active internet connection. Video calling can be done with various apps such as Skype, Zoom, Google Hangouts, and Microsoft Teams.

Video calling has a negative effect on battery life

It all seems so simple—a Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Hangouts online meeting—and it is. As a user, you only need to press a few buttons, and you’re connected to all your colleagues. However, for your device, it’s not such a simple task. Many people think that video calling isn’t too demanding on the device, but unfortunately, that’s not the case. Video calling, especially when you’re in a large group, uses a lot of your internet bandwidth and requires significant processing power from your device’s processor and graphics card. This causes the battery to drain faster.

So, video calling with a large group will cause your battery to drain more quickly. Our advice is to keep your device plugged into the charger during video calls. That way, when you’re done with the video call, you’ll still have enough battery to work the rest of the day!