Except that the last line of the article clearly says "A good old-fashioned compass and paper map or a handheld GPS device are recommended for hikers...."
Which clearly seems to suggest they think a handheld GPS is a reasonable substitute for a map and compass.

As I noted above, there is little or nothing that one can do with a handheld GPS that one can't also do as well or often better with a good smartphone navigation app such as Gaia. The only real advantage of a handheld GPS is that they are generally built more robustly than smartphones, and have replaceable batteries. However, one can get a good case to protect the smartphone, and carry a charger for it.