Brits Biggest “Phone-Pas” Revealed, From Liking Your Ex’s Insta Post By Mistake, To Dialling 999 And Dropping Your Handset Down The Loo
Researchers polled the nation to discover the mobile mishaps that leave us with a pounding heart and sweaty palms, with dropping your phone and smashing the screen (55 percent) emerging as the most common.
Clicking on a video on full volume in a public place (31 percent) and starting a long journey with just three percent (27 percent) also came high in the list.
In fact, the average Brit suffers as many as 36 ‘phone pas’ a year, according to the survey by Nokia to launch the new, more robust XR21.
A quarter (23 percent) have risked the wrath of their partner by looking at their phone in bed, while one in five (20 percent) have rushed to recall an email which has been sent to the wrong person.
Accidentally putting a kiss on a text to your boss (14 percent), liking an ex’s Instagram post (12 percent), adding a kiss on a work email (12 percent), matching with a colleague on a dating site (11 percent) and dialling 999 by mistake (11 percent) also leave us panicked.
More than half admit to smashing their phones within two and a half months of owning it, it’s no surprise that devices suffer an average of four drops a month - slipping down the back of the couch, hitting the pavement and the back of the bus an average of three times a month and dropping in the oven, the sink and toilet bowl as well as in the road, twice a month.
As a result, butter-fingered Brits end up living with their smashed screen for up to three months afterwards, with two thirds (66 percent) of those polled admitting they are currently using a mobile with a cracked or broken screen.
Adam Ferguson, Head of Product Marketing at HMD Global, the home for Nokia phones, who commissioned the study commented, “It is clear that our mobile phones go through a lot in their lifetimes. With people changing their phones an average of every four years, our devices need to survive as many as 144 drops, scrapes and slips.
“Our new Nokia XR21 solves every consumer’s phone fears from cracked screens to low battery and then some - imagine the smartphone version of the indestructible Nokia 3310 and this is it. It is drop, dust, and water proof and can withstand everything from tumbling out of your trouser pocket and hitting the ground screen first to hiking in torrential rain for 72 hours
Four in ten (39 percent) get annoyed when they suffer a ‘mobile mishap’, with 29 percent feeling anxious and having heart palpitations (28 percent).
One in twenty (six percent) say they have kept using a phone with a smashed screen because they can’t afford to get it fixed, while 10 percent have had a go at fixing it themselves.
A third (33 percent) went to the shop to get the screen fixed straight away, while one in six (16 percent) went one step further and bought a brand-new phone as soon as they saw damage.
One in six (14 percent) don’t have a phone case with one in five (18 percent) of those who do have a case, buying it to protect what is left of their screen after dropping it for the first time. 15 percent got a case when their screen smashed.
Seven in ten (72 percent) agree that phones should be built to last, with four in ten (42 percent) confessing they have a backup phone in case their main phone breaks.
The nation changes their phones an average of 4.75 years with a long-lasting battery (75 percent), durability (62 percent) and a good camera (60 percent) must-haves when choosing a new one.
BRITS TOP 15 ‘PHONE-PAS’
Dropping your phone and smashing the screen 55%
Clicking a video on full volume in a crowded space 31%
Starting a long journey with three percent battery 27%
Forgetting to put your phone on silent at the cinema 26%
Clicking on a spam link 24%
Dropping your phone down the loo 23%
Waking your partner by looking at your phone in the night 23%
Sending an email to the wrong person 20%
Putting a kiss at the end of a text to your boss 14%
Liking an ex’s Instagram’s post 12%
Putting a kiss on an email to a client 12%
Accidently dialling 999 when trying to get into your phone 11%
Uploading a pic to social media you didn’t want anyone to see 11%
Putting your phone in the washing machine 7%
Driving off with your mobile on top of the car 4%
Nokia XR21 is available today (3 May) in Midnight Black for £499.99 in 6/128GB configuration from Nokia.com/phones. Pine Green colourway will be available in June.
Research conducted by Perspectus Global, surveying 2000 Brits in May 2023