Smartphone Vs Laptop: Which One To Prefer?

What do you think the people around the world use more- Smartphones or Laptop?

In this article, we have collected everything that you might want to know about using smartphones and laptops.

After the start of social distancing, most people have started doing their works from home lately. Not only for the purpose of earning money but also for teaching and learning, communicating with friends, shopping groceries, the internet has become an inevitable part of our lives. Furthermore, the most popular devices that help us connect to the internet are smartphones and laptops.

According to the current statistics by StatCounter Global Stats, as per July 2020, in Nepal, the percentage of people who utilize mobile phones is 65.94, desktops are 32.6 and tablets are 1.46. 

The first time when the usage of smartphones surpassed the usage of desktops around the world was in October 2016.

The reports of the stats of the year 2016 and as of 2020 are given below:

Year	Smartphones	Laptops	Tablets
2016	46.53%	48.74%	4.73%
2020	50.88%	46.39%	2.74%

From the given data, it is clear that the people around the globe including the Nepalese avail themselves of smartphones more in comparison to laptops. So, until today’s date, smartphones exceed desktops in an account of worldwide internet usage. 

Read: Mobile vs laptop internet usage

But which among these two are more advantageous in terms of their features and facilities? Let’s find out.

Operating System (OS)

The operating system is the system software that allows the users to manage hardware and software resources and run applications and programs in the system. The most popular operating software for smartphones is Android followed by iOS of Apple, whereas that for Laptops is Windows and then Mac. Most people find the OS of laptops to be more convenient in comparison to that of smartphones.

People found a smartphone’s OS quite restrictive before because you only had access to the things that were set by default or the administrator. But in case of a laptop, if you wanted to make changes to the default program, you were free to do so. Similarly, some mobile phones even now have stricter hardware requirements and this is why you cannot download new applications if your mobile phone gets old. But a laptop’s OS has its advantages of fast CPU, huge disk space, and a big RAM.

However, as time passed by, users are able to experience a plethora of customization and several mobile apps that are not available on a laptop. Moreover, developers are also developing various advanced applications and Softwares in light of smartphones because of the way they are gaining popularity among the people.

Portability 

In terms of portability, a smartphone is more favorable than a laptop. Given its small size and lightweight, it can be carried anywhere and anytime. You can fit it into the pockets of your clothes or carry it in your purse. Even though, day by day, many brands and companies are in the process of making a laptop thinner and lighter in weight. It is not as compatible as Smartphones because you cannot carry your laptops all the time like phones. 

Performance

A laptop consumes more power and electricity than a smartphone hence its processor is of high compatibility. Also, it allows you to do multitasking. You can open several browsers on a laptop and work on each of them simultaneously whereas this isn’t as easy in smartphones. Moreover, the size, components, and more power usage of a laptop will allow you to run powerful software or programs, unlike the smartphone.

The availability of a keyboard and a touchpad made work from a laptop convenient than the smartphones in the past. However, there are some exclusive smartphones that provide users with the experience similar to that of a desktop.

For example, the DeX mode in Samsung Note20 phone allows the user to connect the phone to a mouse and a keyboard. The user can enjoy multiple resizable windows and easy keyboard shortcut keys on the phone itself. Also, the S Pen lets you do all of your works in a better, faster, easier, and more creative way. Whether it is sketching something or jotting down some points, it is no less than writing in a real paper with the help of a real pen.

Battery life

Talking about the life span of the battery of laptops and smartphones, smartphones technically have a long-lasting battery. Considering their power usage, smartphones are designed in a way to consume less battery. Even if they are used for smaller intervals throughout the day, their battery lasts longer. But the battery of the laptops, when used continuously, lasts for six hours. It gets heated faster because of high power consumption.

Nevertheless, ann average laptop has about 4000 to 6000 mAh batteries while smartphones have 2000 to 3000 mAh batteries. Laptops charge faster because of the large power chargers.

Also Read: How to Read Phone Specs; The Ultimate Smartphone Specification Guide

Internal Memory/ Storage

Earlier Smartphones were never near to Laptops, in terms of RAM and Storage capacity. But these days, flagship phones are even more powerful than that of some laptops.

Before, the presence of a hard drive in a laptop allows it to store a lot of data and information. High memory unit software and programs can run into laptops due to its storage capacity. In fact, the latest hard drive has around RAM/storage of around 8GB/500 GB. You can also upgrade RAM and Storage in the Laptop with new hardware, as per requirement.

However, the phone can now support storage capacity in different ranges, for entry-level phones the storage ranges come around 16/32GB whereas for average phones ranges to 128GB. Whereas the flagship phones have storage capacity from 128 GB to 500 GB. You can add the extra storage using an SD card slot but the RAM cannot be extended. So, now you know the difference between a laptop and Smartphone.

Screen Size 

There is a huge difference in the screen size of a laptop and a smartphone. The average screen size of most of the laptops that are available in the market is around 13 to 15 inches. Nonetheless, the screen size of most of the advanced smartphones is now above 6.2 inches.

There are many different kinds of works that cannot be accomplished conveniently with the help of smartphones. For instance: If you want to photoshop or edit some files, write a blog, and work in programs like Microsoft Excel, Powerpoint, Word, laptops are very much more suitable.

Connectivity 

Laptops need a USB device or a WIFI adapter to connect to the wireless network whereas there is an option of wired ethernet connectivity that is not there in Smartphones. For Laptop, you also need a mobile hotspot device, tethering from a smartphone, or a 4G stick. Read here for How to use Mobile data on Computer/Laptop.

These days, there are laptops which also intake SIM card to connect the cellular network from the laptop itself. However, it is easier to connect a cellular data network from the smartphone. Moreover, most of the smartphones have the facilities of 3G/4G which help you access the internet anywhere. Read 3G vs 4G; which mobile network is better.

Conclusion

The cheap pricing and easy accessibility of smartphones have made them more favorable to people. Although, the newly developed smartphones have features that make them more powerful than laptops. For instance, nowadays a smartphone has 12 GB of RAM while most of the laptops only have 8GB of RAM. Still, laptops are more convenient while working because they have bigger screen sizes and are comparatively less strainful to the eyes.

So, it depends on the people and the kinds of works they prefer to do on both smartphones and laptops. While some of them are adapted to working on smartphones, there are few others who incline towards laptops. But it doesn’t matter what you choose to use,  we recommend you to reduce the screen time for any kind of device for healthy eyes and a better lifestyle.

What do you think about smartphones replacing laptops in the near future? Considering the way smartphones are forging ahead with their improving features, there is no doubt that there will come a day when smartphones will completely take over laptops. But it is all upon you to use which one is a better device- Smartphone or Laptop?