Since their inception, mobile phones have rapidly gotten more advanced. Although people predicted that mobile phones might replace computers someday, no one expected that they would do it so quickly. Just consider not having a smartphone to aid you in your studies, maintaining your friendships and relationships, workplace, entertainment, and even just staying organized. After the realization hits you hard, read our list to find a reason. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of mobile phones.
Advantages of Mobile Phone
1. Mobility
We’ll start with the most obvious fact. They are small enough to be carried everywhere you go. You pick where – they fit into the back pocket, backpack, purse, or in your hands. Due to the ever-increasing interest in screen sizes, some models are larger in terms of height and width. But, they make up for that by being incredibly thin and lightweight.
2. Availability
This ties in with mobility. When you carry your phone with you, you’re essentially available to anyone through to contact you. This is done through local networks such as 3G, 4G, and soon 5G, as well as having a SIM card with a unique phone number you can be reached at. Even if you’re busy and take an hour to respond, it’s still significantly faster than having a landline at home. In the past, you had to wait to get home to get in touch with important things in your life.
3. Access to a wealth of data
We mentioned 4G and soon 5G networks (advantages and disadvantages of 5G) which, through your mobile network provider, give you access to mobile data, e.g. Internet, wherever you are. Outside of the “native” area, you’ll pay roaming fees, but you still have uninterrupted access. At home, or in dedicated spots around the town, you can access a wireless Internet network, known as Wi-Fi for short, which is cheaper or completely free.
Both provide access to the Internet, and how you use it is up to you – studying, chatting, making new friends, starting a business, selling or buying products, making payments, or staying entertained. We’ll also mention Bluetooth briefly, as it’s slowly taking a backseat to Wi-Fi, but it still allows you to control devices or share data to devices in the vicinity – another great benefit of mobile phones.
4. Entertainment
The time spent waiting at the doctor’s office, taking long breaks in the bathroom, or traveling somewhere is made easier with a mobile phone in your pocket. You can install video games, read articles or books, watch movies or short-form videos on YouTube, or chat with your friends. Phones have a massive entertainment value.
5. Safety
Being able to call, text, or video call from any place is an advantage when it comes to safety. You can feel threatened or fall ill – simply notify someone dear to you, or a dedicated service. Or, if you or your phone go missing, the GPS will be the saving grace. The satellite can track the phone’s location down to the coordinates. Police can also triangulate the signal received by the mobile network’s towers, and find the location that way.
6. Tool for multiple uses
Most people use their phones to take notes, replacing journals and notebooks. This helps them stay organized and make the most of their day. They can set up alarms to wake up in the morning, or remind them to do certain tasks at a certain time. Besides the most obvious use (audio, video, text), they can be used as a flashlight. Don’t forget their use as a fingerprint scanner to verify access to the phone itself, bank and ID details, or government services. Not having to enter any personal details means keyloggers and stolen login details will be inefficient.
7. Workplace and education
Instead of gathering for a group project at home or school/university, you can link up with your friends and colleagues to work simultaneously. Documents can be sent, edited, and read on any smartphone, advice, and guidance given and received, and all without the need of the group to meet in person. The same is true with updates, notifications, change in schedule – everything can be performed at a moment’s notice.
8. Payment
We mentioned fingerprint sensors, but did you know that the mobile phone can scan your face with an IR camera and use it as an identification tool? That makes mobile phones a safety tool when it comes to paying. You never need to carry cash or a credit card, simply carry money virtually on an account on your phone. More and more stores are accepting this form of payment at the register, which is great.
9. Mobile is a fashion piece
This is a gray area. We don’t know if it’s a mobile phone advantage or not, but it’s undeniable, although a little bit sad. From kids to adults, owning a certain model of a phone puts you in a certain social category. This can be a good thing when you need to leave a good impression. However, it can also be used for deceit as an illusion of wealth. But, you can also stylize a cheap phone with a creative phone case or a PVC skin, which is an advantage.
10. A medium for communication
It’s obvious that smartphones or mobile phones, in general, are a medium of communication. Whether you want to call someone, chat with them, or video call, it all serves the purpose of communicating with others. In this age, rather than the internet, it is the most widely used form of communication. Be it a dial phone or a highly advanced smartphone, putting a SIM card makes it a highly valuable device with the ability to reach miles within seconds and deliver messages that were impossible a few decades ago.
11. Helps Businesses
The use of mobile phones isn’t limited to personal use anymore. People with smartphones are using technology to conduct business. No, we are not talking about only a device for communication. But mobile phones now have commercial use. People are earning money with their phones as freelancers, content creators, or video editors. They are also using mobile phones as POS systems. You can now pay for deliveries by swapping cards on a mobile POS powered by a smartphone OS. The rise of UPI has also seen mobile phones as payment centers where users can scan and pay for their purchases using various apps.
Disadvantages of Mobile Phone
1. Security and privacy
Being constantly connected to the Internet and mobile networks is a good thing for obvious reasons. But, if used for malicious purposes such as stalking, spying, or stealing personal information, it is a massive mobile phone disadvantage.
2. Isolation, distraction, wasting time
Having virtual friends or access to the Internet can leave you scrolling, watching, typing, or reading for hours on end, in turn distancing you from real-life friends and family. This can also lead you to perform worse at your job, stop being organized, and lose track of your goals in life. Seeing others succeed online can also cause you to feel depressed and jealous for not being as successful, wealthy, fit, and adventurous.
3. Mobile addiction
The point above leads to the next worst step – addiction to using mobile phones. Being compelled to pull out your phone and scroll while others talking or enjoying their time outside is detrimental to your life. If you also get chat notifications, calls, or texts while with other people, you slowly lose the ability to focus on things that matter.
4. Health problems
We’ll mention dry eyes from looking at the screen. There is also both fatigue and insomnia because the blue light is not allowing you to fall asleep. Add to that a danger of a terrible body posture and back pain from being slumped forward while scrolling. A common disadvantage with technology in general.
5. Financial loss
If you are pretty experienced with using a mobile phone, this won’t be an issue for you. But for those who are not familiar with certain aspects of a mobile phone, especially the highly advanced smartphones released these days, losing some money is pretty easy. Even clicking on a link that came via an SMS may result in some financial loss. So it is essential to be aware of certain aspects that could cause this.
6. Professional life encroaches upon your Personal life
Having a mobile phone is not always convenient. If you are a corporate worker, then you might bring your work home due to this device. Checking emails, answering memos, sending files, or digitally signing a document, is all possible over a smartphone. Hence, corporate workers are more often than not required to answer a last-minute mail or check up on an upcoming presentation later in the evening, even when they are off the clock, leaving little time for personal use.