A portable device and user input method of the portable device using a virtual input area is provided. The portable device may include a sensor configured to sense a user input to an input area, the input area being at least a portion of an area adjacent to the portable device, a determiner configured to determine a target object corresponding to the user input among at least one input object displayed on the portable device, based on an arrangement of the at least one input object, and a controller configured to generate a control command to control the target object.