As someone else pointed out, the benefit of calculators is the tactile feedback of the buttons. Once you know your calculator well enough, you can operate it much quicker than most people can operate a smartphone. It would probably take me 5x longer to do a complex calculation on my phone's interface - time poorly spent on an exam.
Having said that: Once I left university I use a calculator only when doing taxes.
Having said that: Once I left university I use a calculator only when doing taxes.