The phantom vibration effect is when you feel your phone vibrate even though it didn't. over 90% of people under 30 report feeling it, often because their brain is used to expecting Your smartphone is making you hallucinate. It's called phantom vibration syndrome yes, it's a real psychological phenomenon and studies in the past few years have found, when surveying college undergraduates, MS and Vibrating Sensations: What Do They Mean? MyMSTeam Phantom vibrations give device junkies a buzz Why Does My Phone Randomly Vibrate: iPhone + Android