USA TODAY

As the marketing director for a tech company, Elsa M. Kuti is always on her phone. She’s taking and editing photos, reviewing her employees’ schedules, posting on social media and even signing contracts.

In fact, Kuti rarely uses a laptop these days. She realized a couple of years ago that her phone enables her to do pretty much everything she needs. And she didn’t like lugging a laptop to client meetings.

“A laptop almost felt like a barrier between me and the person I’m talking with,” Kuti said. “With my phone, I just hit a recording app and capture our entire conversation.”

The latest generation of smart phones makes it easier than ever to do all of your work from your phone. It’s easy to switch between apps, store documents in the cloud and make calls or send texts without switching devices. A Windows 10-based phone, such as the Alcatel Idol 4S, even enables users to tap into a full suite of Windows tools.

Parenting writer Marcie Jones uses her phone to dictate posts for her blog, greatexpectationsmaternity.com, when she’s on the go. “I not only use it in place of a laptop, I do more than I can on the laptop, and faster,” she said.

Jones said a growing group of “momtrapreneurs” rely on their smart phones for all aspects of their professional and personal lives. They use their phones to edit web sites, ring up customers, post items for sale on Etsy or Ebay, while also managing tools around their home – from smart thermostats to baby monitors.

Kuti said she started using her phone for work more when her daughter was an infant. She could work online with one hand while rocking or feeding her baby.

In time, she discovered that she preferred working on her phone. Apps such as Instagram work more smoothly in the smartphone interface. And it saved Kuti the hassle of having to carry a bulky laptop with her.

“Honestly, it’s just easier,” she said. “I work from home. My hours are literally around the clock. My phone is always with me.”

Working from a smartphone rather than a laptop would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. But rapid advances in processing speed, better battery life and larger, easier-to-use screens have made the transition possible. And cloud storage allows people to work around memory limitations.

Wired magazine predicted this industry transformation nearly two years ago. “We’re at the point where anyone armed with a current model smartphone or tablet is able to handle almost all of their at-home — and even at-work — tasks without needing anything else,” the tech magazine wrote.

As more workers and students choose to leave their laptops at home, tech companies responded by releasing apps that allow people to work from their phones. A major medical record company recently created an app that allows doctors and nurses to update patient records from their phone, eliminating the need for computers in the exam room.

Community activist Ralph Moore is among those who have made the switch to using his smartphone for most tasks. He prefers the ease of moving between speaking on the phone, sending text messages and writing emails. He’s even been known to write an essay on his phone immediately after waking up.

“There’s nothing like having a device right in your hand,” Moore said. “You can do what you want to do when you think about doing it.”

If you’re looking to put your laptop in storage, it’s important to have a smartphone that gives you the flexibility to do everything you need. The IDOL 4S with Windows 10 from Alcatel runs all of the apps that you need for work and play. In addition to a full suite of Windows apps, the IDOL 4S comes with dual speakers for three dimensional sound, a high quality camera and a virtual reality headset.

And the IDOL 4S comes with special features that enables you to use it like a laptop. The Continuum app lets you turn most screens – from a company computer to your friend’s TV – into a monitor. And, like other Android phones, you can plug a mouse or a keyboard into the IDOL 4S. With the IDOL 4S’s exceptional processing speed and long-lasting battery, it’s like a PC that you can tuck in your pocket.

Story from Alcatel