You told us: Sleeping with a phone in bed is more common than you think

Many of us use our phones while in bed, be it to browse the web, read an ebook, or check our social media and messaging feeds. But sleeping with the phone in bed is another matter entirely.

So we thought it would be a good idea to ask readers whether they actually slept with their phones in bed with them. Here’s what you told us.

Do you sleep with your phone in bed with you?

Results

Almost 2,700 votes were counted in this poll, and it turned out to be a close race. A grand total of 46.83% of respondents said they do indeed sleep with their phones in bed with them. Reader comments suggest that these folks need the phone for sleep tracking or to help them sleep (e.g. using white noise apps).

Meanwhile, 43% of polled readers said they don’t keep their phones in bed with them. Some of these readers cited reasons like having a nightstand, concerns about excess exposure to radiation, or concerns that the phone was a fire hazard in bed. One reader also felt that a phone in bed made for a distraction.

More reading: The best sleep tracking apps for Android

Interestingly, ~10% of surveyed readers said they “sometimes” slept with their phone in bed. One reader noted that they only did this when they needed to use the phone’s alarm.

Nevertheless, these results show that over half of our respondents sleep with their phone in bed every now and again at the very least.

Comments

• EeZeEpEe: No. That’s what nightstands are for.
• thesecondsight: Sleeping with a phone in your bed is a fire hazard. Pure and simple. I place my phone on my night stand.
• Kennypompey: I would always use my phone for sleep tracking at night, using the Sleep for Android app. So it has to be in bed with me.
• Joe Black: No, my phone remains in the living room for the night. Anyone wants something? They can wait, I do not care.
• Chris Laarman: I may have a smartphone or tablet “in” bed when I have an alarm set or when I’m listening to music (through phones).
• ProLoveLife: I use white noise app when I sleep.
• Walter Kowalski: No for me. I shut my phone off to conserve battery. I also want to get quality sleep. Another reason is to avoid excessive radiation.
• Stanley Kubrick: Brain tumor in the making. Say what you want but I do not need a microwave oven running non-stop under my head all night.
• superwolfkin: The only reason it’s in bed with me is because I don’t have a night stand. I don’t move much when sleeping so I have a lapdesk thing and I put my laptop/chromebook on it and my phone on it. I’m not typically using my phone but I do tend to watch cartoons or movies when I’m going to bed. If I had a night stand it’d all be there. Under the pillow? How? I went to sleep one time with my phone in my hand and woke up with it under my pillow it was incredibly warm darn near hot. Honestly it was a little hot. I could never risk my phone under my pillow I had to pay way too much money for it.
• ThatWeirdCarNerd: I only leave my phone in my bed when I have an important event to wake up for (i.e. leaving at 5am for a flight), otherwise my phone stays within quick reach on my nightstand.
• Kira: Yeah,I sleep with my phone besides myself,and have doing it for the last decade.Since the walls of my bedroom intersect at the top left corner of my bed,there is no danger of phone falling off.
• Evie: Yes. I wake up several times a night and I need music or a video distraction to calm my mind. I don’t watch it, just have the sound really low and screen off.