When your smartphone makes it so easy to connect to the Internet , why bother firing up a clunky desktop or laptop computer ? Two-thirds of cell-phone owning Americans use their phones to surf the Web and check e-mail , according to the latest study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project . That 's double the amount from 2009 , when only 31 % of people said they used their phones to go online . For a growing segment of people , phones are n't just a secondary way to check the news or send off a quick e-mail . According to Pew , 21 % of phone owners use their devices as their primary way of accessing the Internet , more than PCs and tablets . Since Pew began tracking Internet and phone usage in 2009 , the numbers have steadily risen year-over-year . First there were the youthful early adopters , then it spread to older age groups . This year , biggest jump in online phone-owners was among 50- to 64-year-olds . The groups most likely to own a smartphone are still the same people who are most likely to access the Internet from their phones . The tech-savvy 18- to 29-year-old set is the most likely to go online from a phone , as are people with a college degree or higher , or people making more than $ 75,000 a year . Mobile Web use also is higher among minorities . Three-quarters of African-American and 68 % of Hispanic phone owners are going online from their handsets , while just 59 % of white phone owners are doing the same . A whopping 91 % of American adults have cell phones and a little more than half of those are smartphones . Smartphones are built for accessing the Internet and apps -- so much so that making a phone call on the devices can seem like an afterthought . Touchscreen Android , iOS , Blackberry and Windows Phone devices are replacing one-trick feature phones , and are changing the way Americans access the Internet in the process . Each year smartphones get faster , the screens sharper and apps better . Internet connections are also speeding up , both though cellular networks and available Wi-Fi networks . Not every phone owner uses a fancy smartphone to surf the Web , however . People are also going online from their feature phones between texting , phone calls and games of `` Snake . '' Surfing the Web on these devices is an impressive feat given the limited controls available .
More people are turning to their phones to access the Internet and e - mail . A new Pew study found that two - thirds of home phone owners use their phones to go online . For a small but majority of people , phones are the primary way they check the Internet .