Our extreme addiction to our mobile phones revealed

Nearly half (46 per cent) of us vote our mobile phone the most important gadget we own, according to a new survey. Mobiles beat laptops/tablets (just 22 per cent rated these as their most prized electronic possession) and cars (a mere 18 per cent).

[Related: Mobiles 'probably' safe]

Even compared to our other possessions, our phones seem to be one of the most vital things in our lives overall. Nearly a quarter admitted theirs would be the one personal item they would save from a burning building, beating laptops, photo albums and wallets.

The reasons given for this revealed that it’s not the device itself that’s so prized, but what it holds within it. Personal contacts were most essential, with photos close behind and then both text and voice messages.

According to the survey by mobile security company Lookout, which asked 1,000 mobile phone users about their attitude towards their phones, the idea of operating without the gadget was seriously troubling. Nearly a third of users admitted they could only last a maximum of a couple of hours without their phone, with 15 per cent suggesting they could not survive at all if their phone was lost or stolen.

That’s perhaps rather an exaggeration, but a huge 60 per cent admitted having their phone made them feel ‘connected’ or ‘safe’ and half said that being without it left them feeling n‘anxious’.

But despite our reliance, more than half of us don’t have a PIN or passcode set on our mobiles and only a sixth would know how to track our phone if it was lost or stolen. Might be worth finding it out if you want to survive without yours…!