Smartphones have turned out to be a major part of the lives of Nigerians owing to its unique capacity to combine communication and computing on mobile devices. Its evolution has made it an indispensable item in the possession of Nigerians, especially youths and elites of the older generation, as it allows for social interaction, business communication, safe storage of personal files and mobile learning among other things. Through a critical review of relevant academic studies, the article explores the evolution of smartphone in the world and how Nigerians have adopted the device. This paper argues that Nigerians adopt smartphones due to reasons such as educational needs, social communication needs, social influence and brand name and features. Some of the potentials of smartphones to the Nigerian society, as the paper posits are; knowledge sharing in work environment, improvement of social and business relationships, creation of new business dimensions and the availing of health/educational resources. Issues such as addiction, selfie syndrome, social disconnection, academic-related problems as well as health challenges were raised as the negatives from the utility of smartphones. The paper recommends that Nigerians be more disciplined with their phones when in meetings and that students should only use their smartphones to access educational materials outside the examination halls. Also, people should limit their exposure to smart phone screens to avoid visual-related problems.