Video and sound quality have an impact on battery and data usage.

Although some people are pushing back, a lot of us are dependent on streaming services for our movies and music. There's an obvious incentive — you get a massive library for a (relatively) cheap monthly fee and the ability to access that media from virtually any device with an internet connection. Conversely, owned downloads and physical media can be pricey and not terribly portable.

Many streaming services do offer a middle ground of sorts, letting you cache songs, videos or podcasts so you can play them with or without an internet connection. But let's say you're most concerned with efficiency and not the soundtrack to a remote camping expedition. Does it still make more sense to download in advance, or should you stream whenever possible?

The quick answer is that downloads (of all stripes) are usually the most efficient option when it comes to battery and usage. But there may be times when streaming is preferable, or possibly the only option.

For anything you enjoy on a regular basis, downloads win. While there's going to be an initial (and possibly intense) surge of battery and bandwidth consumption, that's vastly outweighed by the non-existent effort for subsequent plays. You should always cache over Wi-Fi, incidentally, since it's usually faster, and a way to avoid bumping up against the data caps that many cellular providers continue to impose on their plans.

It's only when you're talking about one-time plays that streaming is in any way efficient.

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