February 7, 2026, 3:45 pm | Read time: 4 minutes
“I need to go home to the laptop to write an email”—a sentence you rarely hear today. After all, organizational tasks can now be conveniently handled on the go: Emails, calendars, and online banking are always at your fingertips on a smartphone, not to mention messengers and streaming services. This raises the question: Who even needs a laptop today? TECHBOOK investigated.
Why the Smartphone Is a Central Organizational Device for Many
For many everyday tasks, the smartphone has become the central device. Organization, communication, streaming, and social media can be almost entirely managed with it. Many service providers now point to apps specifically available for smartphones (or tablets). The results of a survey* confirm this trend: Sixty-six percent of U.S. adults primarily use their smartphones for organizational tasks like calendar updates, to-do lists, or notes—more often than laptops.
The smartphone has several advantages over the laptop in terms of mobility. Thanks to its compact size, most users have it with them almost all the time, and it is always online due to the cellular connection–a clear advantage over many laptops. Modern smartphones also offer high performance, which is usually sufficient for numerous everyday tasks. And if more space is needed, such as a larger screen, there are now technical solutions: Compatible smartphones can be connected to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse via cable or dock. A PC-like user interface with windows, a taskbar, and multitasking functions then appears on the screen.
Do You Even Need a Laptop Anymore?
For some users, the laptop seems to have become a specialized device. For example, a Reddit user reports using their Windows laptop mainly for RAW photo editing—optimizing photo “raw material” directly from the camera sensor. But even this activity is becoming less common, as many photos are now taken directly on smartphones.
However, the rest of the discussion paints a slightly different picture. The majority of participants say they still prefer laptops for productive tasks. Many work-related software programs are either too hardware-intensive or not compatible with mobile devices.
There seems to be a clear distribution—and this is also reflected in the numbers. According to the aforementioned survey, most adults in the U.S. primarily use their laptops for productive tasks like creating and reading documents (52 percent), creative work (33 percent), and streaming (35 percent). Smartphones, on the other hand, are mainly used for quick organizational activities like calendar management, to-do lists, and messaging. They are increasingly being used for longer activities like gaming as well.
Laptop, TV, smartphone, or tablet–which device is most commonly used for streaming?
What Is the Difference Between a Laptop and a Notebook?
Smartphone for Everyday and Entertainment, Laptop for Productivity
Data for Germany—though not entirely current—show a similar picture according to Statista. Smartphones have become ubiquitous in recent years, while laptops remain relevant. Desktop PCs and tablets, however, are losing significance. Sales figures underscore this trend: In 2020, about 4.9 million laptops were sold, but only 1.1 million desktop PCs. With around 22 million devices sold, the smartphone market remains significantly larger.
Conclusion
Smartphones can cover a large portion of everyday tasks today. Checking emails, communicating via messenger, managing appointments, creating to-do lists, streaming, or being active on social media—all of this can be conveniently done on the go.
Laptops are truly needed today, mainly by students and professionals who regularly write longer texts, edit documents, or take online courses. Here, larger displays, comfortable multitasking, and often longer battery life are advantages. Whether it’s spreadsheets, presentations, emails, complex projects, or video editing, the laptop is the right choice. Smartphones, however, reach their limits with professional software. Power users who run multiple programs simultaneously, connect external devices, or execute performance-intensive applications still rely on laptops.
* The tech platform CNET commissioned this survey from the market and opinion research institute YouGov. It surveyed 2,601 adults in the U.S. online, 2,145 of whom had a laptop. The results were weighted to be representative of all U.S. adults aged 18 and older.