smartphone

American  

[smahrt-fohn] / ˈsmɑrtˌfoʊn /

Or smart phone

noun

smartphones plural

1. a device that combines a cell phone with a handheld computer, typically offering internet access, data storage, email capability, etc.

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smartphone British  

/ ˈsmɑːtˌfəʊn /

noun

1. computing a mobile telephone with computer features that may enable it to interact with computerized systems, send e-mails, and access the web

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• smartphones
  plural

Etymology

Origin of smartphone

First recorded in 1995–2000

Compare meaning

How does smartphone compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• cell phone vs. smartphone

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

smartphone smartphones

Inari’s core RF business is expected to recover, aided by client Broadcom’s long-term supply agreement with a major North American smartphone customer through 2031, he adds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

With a packet of biscuits in one hand and her smartphone in the other in the biscuits sucrées aisle of her local Hyper U supermarket west of Paris, Nathalie sees red.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

Participants completed more than 30,000 sorting trials over a period of 5 to 10 weeks using a smartphone app designed as a game.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026

What the court said, instead, is that more than 90 percent of Americans today own a smartphone.

From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026

But a smartphone wasn’t needed to send simple texts.

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

Those insights could help transform solid-state batteries from a promising concept into a practical technology for future smartphones, electric vehicles, and other electronic devices.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026

Companies in the U.S. and China have also explored specialized hardware such as smartphones, pins or headsets to anchor these services.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026

Madison never heard of smartphones, and he sure didn’t write them in or out of the Constitution.

From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026

Qualcomm aims to diversify beyond smartphones, targeting non-smartphone chips to be one-third of sales by 2029.

From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026

"They call them smartphones for a reason—you can find out pretty much anything you want to, using a phone."

From "Born Behind Bars" by Padma Venkatraman