Upsides and downsides in every country surveyed, mobile phone users are more likely to say their phone is something that frees them rather than something that ties them down. At least 63% in five countries (Kenya, Vietnam, Venezuela, South Africa and the Philippines) characterize their phone as something that frees them, whereas users in other countries are somewhat more ambivalent. For example, while 46% of Jordanian mobile phone users say their phone frees them, 25% say it ties them down, and 21% volunteer that neither statement holds true. In Lebanon, 40% of mobile phone users say their phone frees them, compared with 30% who say it ties them down.
Across the 11 countries surveyed, mobile phone users are somewhat more divided when it comes to whether their phone helps save them time or makes them waste time. In seven countries, larger shares say their phone helps save them time. Kenyans are especially likely to see their phone as a time saver; 84% of mobile phone users say their phone saves them time, compared with 14% who say it wastes their time. Venezuelan (71%), South African (65%), Indian (64%), Vietnamese (63%), Tunisian (54%) and Colombian (50%) phone users are also more likely to say that phones save them time rather than waste it. But mobile phone users in Jordan and the Philippines generally believe they waste more time on their phones than they save, while Mexican and Lebanese phone users are roughly evenly divided in their assessments.
Mobile phone users are even more divided when assessing their reliance or lack thereof on their mobile device. In six countries – Mexico, Colombia, India, the Philippines, Venezuela and Vietnam – around half or more see their phone as something they don’t always need. But in five others – Jordan, Lebanon, South Africa, Tunisia and Kenya – users are more inclined to say they couldn’t live without it.
In some instances, people’s perceptions of the necessity of their mobile device is not linked to their assessments of its utility in other aspects of their life. For instance, a majority of Venezuelans say their phone is something that frees them and helps them save time – but just 29% say they couldn’t live without it. Conversely, a majority of Jordanians say they couldn’t live without their phone – even as they are more likely to describe it as a time waster rather than a time saver.
Consistently, smartphone users tend to be somewhat more critical of their device than basic or feature phone users in their country. For example, in every country smartphone users are more likely than basic or feature phone users to say their phone makes them waste time. And in all countries except Lebanon, smartphone users are more likely to say their phone ties them down rather than frees them.
There are also prominent and consistent differences by age. In every country surveyed, mobile phone users ages 50 and older are significantly more likely than users ages 18 to 29 to believe their phone helps them save time. The age gap is particularly notable in Vietnam, Tunisia and Colombia, where the shares of older adults who see their phone as a time saver surpass those of younger adults by at least 27 percentage points. And, while it is true that younger adults use smartphones and social media at higher rates than older adults, in every country but India these age differences persist even when accounting for age-related differences in usage.
