Facebook Messenger Or Messenger lite; Which is better ?

Facebook messenger lite is almost or exactly as popular as the original messenger. But did you know it was created for countries with unstable connections? The fewer data, less memory and less power-hungry version of messenger launched earlier this week in the UK, US, Canada, Ireland amongst others.

Facebook Messenger Or Messenger lite; Which is better?

Messenger lite was only available in Kenya, Tunisia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Venezuela in October 2016 but was expanded to a further 132 countries in April.

Facebook Messenger has got to be that bloated app which offers too much than we might ever want in most cases and will consume power, RAM, internal space in the process. Whether it’s suggested text replies and stickers, or the unnecessary adverts. Sometimes all you want to do is chat with a friend via text. Nothing more, nothing less.

The lite version comes with a lot of performance but limited and simple features, unlike facebook messenger. Although both versions have their pros and cons, let’s take a quick look at both and spot the major differences to help decide what you really should go use for different situations.

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1. RAM Consumption

The lite version messenger app will properly run in the background and display notifications in a new message without having to use the annoying chat bubbles from the normal client. This means we can compare the RAM consumption in both cases in three different statuses: when you’re using the app when the app is running in the background, and when the app is closed but still sending notifications.

Use the Simple System Monitor app, which displays the real-time changes in RAM consumption for each of the two apps. Total RAM consumption for the Lite version is half that of the original in most cases.

Messenger
204MB when running open
150.74MB when running in the background
58.04MB closed

Messenger Lite
93MB when running open
59.64MB when running in the background
8.76MB closed

Conclusion: The lite version is RAM friendly.

2. Power/Data consumption

Facebook messenger displays ads, send and receive photos,stickers this definitely leads to higher data consumption and power consumption consequentially. Photos you send and receive don’t pre-load.
Conclusion: The lite edges it on data and power management also.

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3. Storage space

Fb messenger lite is 10 times smaller in size. It is just 1mb as installation file and takes up just 22MB of space on your smartphone after installation, while the latter needs 210MB of space and its around 25mb apk file.

4. Features

Here we analyze both apps to see what’s been left out in the Facebook Lite. Firstly, the Lite app has no video calling or VoIP .

You also do not have the Groups tab, though your group chats will still be available alongside your individual chats in chronological order.

You can’t add new bots on this version as well but can receive messages from already subscribed bots.

In terms of sending content, your chats are limited to text, the Like sticker, and photos (which you can take from the app or upload from your gallery). You can still view stickers and other content that other people send you, though.

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In summary, both apps are great but your preference and device have a big role to play in choosing which is good for you. For high-end devices with 2gb RAM and above the Messenger app could run smoothly for you but devices with lesser RAM are advised to run the lite version on messenger.

Your internet connection and data cap also determine what to go for. I am very sure you know which to go for by now already, Facebook messenger or Messenger lite. Don’t forget to share the post with friends.