Would you save your smartphone before your cat?

Washington - Consumers around the world admit it: they sleep with their smartphone, take it in the shower, and would rescue the device from a fire before saving the family cat.

Those are among the findings of a seven-country survey of more than 7 000 people about smartphone habits released on Tuesday by Motorola, the newly acquired division of Chinese electronics giant Lenovo.

Sixty percent of those surveyed said they slept holding their handsets - with the highest percentages in India (74%) and China (70%). And 57% said they took the device into the toilet, with the highest totals from China and Brazil.

One in six smartphone users said they used their phones while showering, and more than half - 54% - said they would reach for the smartphone before saving their cat in the event of a fire.

How close are people to their devices? 22% said they would give up sex for a weekend before parting with their smartphone. And 40% tell secrets to their phones they would not reveal even to their best friend.

But the relationship is not perfect. Only 39% said they were "happy" with their smartphone, and 79% felt bothered that their devices interrupted them at inopportune moments.

The survey was conducted online by KRC Research with a total of 7 112 smartphone owners in the United States, Britain, Brazil, China, Spain, Mexico and India.