Which uses more battery? 4G lte internet or Wi-Fi? I usually am within range of my Wi-Fi hotspot, and am using a Samsung Galaxy Note II. I've always wanted to know whether I'd have better battery-life if I was to turn off Wi-Fi? I have unlimited 4G lte from an old Verizon plan, so I don't have to worry about data charges.

By turning on Wi-Fi you get to turn off 4G lte, so I would think it would be a trade-off.

But the cellular connection stays on always, so wouldn't turning on Wi-Fi have a net increase in battery usage?

Also, my phone has the option to disconnect Wi-Fi when I turn it to standby, and reconnect when I turn it back on. I wonder if that makes a difference?
Easy answer

Depends on.

More detailed answer:

This is no easy yes/no question, but has many things to consider. Several factors have to be taken into account. Picking just the easy ones to make it less complicated:


what is the energy consumption in idle mode
how much energy is needed per time unit
how much data is transfered per time unit
how much data do you have to transfer
oh, and what's the signal quality of course


To make a raw calculation, I've collected some hard data on battery consumptions of components a while ago. You will note it lacks LTE/4G specifics, but you can rawly "deduce" those for an estimation. For some "practical examples", take a look at e.g. 2G versus 3G: Does it really save battery?

If you followed this far, you probably reached the same conclusion I came to: There's no "general rule" to give, all depends on "user habits" and "actual situation" (coverage etc.).