A smartphone combines a mobile/portable phone with a computer. Obviously if you object to computers, you would also object to a smartphone. But even if one doesn’t object to a computer, the extreme portability of a smartphone (phone plus computer in one device) means that it tends to take over your life and distract you from anything and everything such as the shiur you are supposed to be attending, or the car that took an unexpected turn and is running you over, or davening (so tempting to check the stock prices while waiting for the shliach tzibur to reach kedusah), or the broken pavement you are about to trip over. Its no coincidence that the stereotype of the “millenials” is someone walking around with a small device in front of their face and oblivious to the rest of the the world. While the content of the internet is an issue with halachic dimensions, the “Smartphone” raises additional issues that aren’t uniquely Jewish or halachic. Among the goyim, one frequently finds them banned in situations where one wants people to pay attention to what they are supposed to be doing.
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