VoLTE may promise digital-quality calling, but it may drain smartphone batteries at a rate that’s twice as fast as CDMA-based calls, says a study by Metrico Wireless that was first reported by GigaOM. The study measured the power consumption of voice calls placed over a CDMA network and compared it with voice calls that were transmitted over an LTE network. The results are sobering, especially when you consider that most CDMA smartphones now can’t make it through the day on a single charge.
Metrico’s data shows that estimated battery time was 502 minutes when calls were placed over CDMA. This number fell to a measly 251 minutes when using VoLTE. A similar trend was recorded for the average power consumption of a handset, with VoLTE consuming a hoggish 1358mW as compared to 680mW for CDMA calls.
VoLTE is not yet available on carriers in the US. This technology, though, is slated to arrive on Verizon in early 2014. Hopefully, phone manufacturers can improve radio technology and battery technology so we can make our digital calls and not have to charge our phones every few hours.
[Via Fierce Wireless, GigaOM]