Things I'd like to have in a smartphone

Here is a list of things I value and would like to see in a smartphone.

Front facing speakers.
When using the video in Google Talk, cupping your hand around the back of the phone to bring some of the sound from the rear of the device to the front where you are viewing the video of the person you are talking to is annoying.

Loud speakers (maybe an enhanced volume boost)
I want to be able to hear quiet YouTube videos and quiet people I am video chatting with.

Waterproof
I have been caught in downpours without a jacket with my phone in my pants pocket. It gets damp. I will want to be able to use it while it is raining without worrying that it might not survive. If a manufacturer did something like a bulk deal with a company like Liquipel, it may help lower the price of a phone with this coating.

Liquipel is a waterproof coating letting you submerge and use your phone in water for $60 + $14.29 for 3-5 day shipping, 2 day for $31. 1 day priority is $68.11.  http://www.liquipel.com/
I may do this when I am 95% happy with my phone. (My current S3 takes too long to charge, up to 5-10 hours. Longer than other S3s I think wich are closer to 2-3 hours. I don't like that the speakers are on the back and not the front. Not sure if I am happy with the white color because the white and clear cases keep getting dirty, etc.) Liquipel's facebook page has coupon codes every so often. The downside is that you are spending $75 on an upgrade that is not transferable to your next phone.

I thought I saw several months ago ratings about how well certain devices are covered by Liquipel, and the iPhone and GS2 were top rated and could be submerged, but the GS3 was a step down and could only be splashed on. I don't see that anymore. Just the disclaimer saying they don't recommend liquid ever come in contact with your device and that they are not liable for water damage. Reading up on things, I think that Liquipel 2.0 was released in January 2013, is claimed to be 100x better than the 2012 version (which is good because the original 2012 Liquipel had complaints of water damage on some devices), and is supposed to come with a warranty for accidental spills, but not intentional submersion. http://www.macrumors.com/2013/01/09/ces-2013-liquipel-announces-2-0-watersafe-nanocoating-for-waterproofing-devices/

Motorola claims to have splash resistant smartphones, but didn't advertise it very well.

Removable battery
I can go through 2-5 2100 mAh batteries a day on my Samsung Galaxy SIII. I don't know if battery development is ready for a complete overhaul yet, and I don't see a 4x2100 capacity battery 8,400 mAh being thin, so let me have a removable battery.

A screen not likely to crack
I see a decent amount of iPhones and even some HTC phones with cracked screens on the CTA (Chicago's public bus and train service). My sister has cracked her screen probably twice on her HTC Evo, a plastic smartphone.

Great battery life
Kind of a relative statement. I am pro new battery technology.

Fast charge time per mAh
My Galaxy SIII takes 5 hours to charge 2100 mAh while turned on and with no major apps running. I think that should be down to 2 by now. Faster in the future.

Better call quality
Even with most of my signal bars active, some people are just hard to understand over the phone even though they are speaking clearly. Maybe this is a network thing, but fix it.

Don't fluctuate the cell signal from full bars to no service when I am not moving
I also will jump from full bars to no bars and then dropped call standing in the same position. Really?

Maybe it is just Sprint, but 10% of calls, I answer or make, I can hear nothing. No voice from the other person, no phone buzz, nothing. But I know they can hear me because when i call back and I can hear them, i ask if they could hear me talking and they said yes, they were talking but it didn't look like I could hear them. I don't like it.

Make the touch screen keypad ALWAYS work when dialing in conference codes or using the keypad in Google Voice to answer/record calls. I have had issues where I press 1 to aswer the call. I press 1, the screen says I pressed one, but Google voice repeats, Press 1 to answer the call. I press 1 again. Then it says the user was sent to voicemail. This occurred frequently with my 2010 HTC Evo 4G.


I would also somewhat value

A screen that won't scratch when put in a pocket, or purse, with keys and other sharp objects. It would be nice to move away from screen protectors, but a demo of the tough scratch resistant glass built into a friend's Samsung SIII where he scratched the screen with keys to show me that it didn't scratch the screen actually still left shallow scratches on the screen. They were minor, but there.

Start up time under 30 seconds
When  switching batteries, I hate waiting for it to start up. Is the additional 5-10 second carrier splash screen really necessary?

Apps that open quickly.
Do what you gotta do to decrease app startup times.

Radiation protection
See if there is a way to generally decrease radiation without decreasing performance. Here is an interesting article about cell phone radiation.
http://www.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/high-tech-gadgets/gold-plated-radiation-protection-stickers.htm