The Google Hangouts bandwidth slider is really a simple work around for its high bandwidth use issues. (You can check out the numbers and video comparisons here…or better yet, do your own tests!)
VSee was specially designed to work over slow Internet and uses half the bandwidth of Skype for the same video quality. However none of these can even come close to the mileage you can get out of VSee’s low bandwidth video chat. It uses a whopping 150 MB for 10 minutes, compared with Microsoft Skype and Apple Facetime’s 30 MB. In particular, bandwidth limitations can be a problem for people living in rural areas or traveling to other countries.Īpparently this is a much needed feature, because according to this Mashable article by Rob Lammle, Google Hangouts is the worst offender when it comes to video chat services that eat up your bandwidth. This is welcome news for those on 3G, Wifi, DSL, or otherwise slow Internet who have had a hard time jumping into a Hangout. Google+ Hangouts is trying to be more bandwidth-friendly with its new bandwidth slider and audio-only features.
