General smartphone design . . .
. . . leaves a bit to be desired these days, to my way of thinking.
(The following are my personal opinions. Obviously people will have their own opinions and preferences, which they have every right to. I can't help it if they are wrong. :P )
Not affecting just Samsungs (though they do seems to lead the charge), I am not a fan of wall-to-wall glass for the display. Trying to pick one of those up always tries to activate something on the screen. Taking one out of your pocket can do things like activating the camera etc., even if locked, when combined with gestures etc. You effectively NEED a case just to use it, because just holding/gripping it causes screen presses.
I like to have areas at the top and bottom of the screen, and the actual sides of the phone that are "dead", so no reactions. Designed along those lines, a notch becomes unnecessary, so no need to gnash teeth over that one. You also gain the ability to have dedicated buttons (not on-screen ones) for Home / Back / etc. functions. My personal preference was a design like the HTC 10.
Another gripe is battery life. With apps on phones pulling juice like it is unlimited (I'm looking at you Pokemon Go) options for bigger (or swappable) batteries is something I want to see.
The arguments for having smaller batteries generally come down to weight. If its an option, people can select what they want. I don't mind a heavier phone myself. Also makes it harder to have it slip out of a pocket unnoticed (or at all).
The arguments for non-swappable batteries come down to water-proofing, generally. While nice, I suspect it has a lot more to do with making the phones less serviceable, so you feel forced to buy a new handset when the battery life becomes useless. I'd prefer to be able to carry extra batteries that I can swap in as needed.
A small battery, which is non-swappable, combined with an app that sucks power (you would think an in-built Pikachu would extend the battery life), means you have have to use a powerbank to keep it going. Surprisingly (yeah, not so much), this causes the battery to heat up considerably, and can cook the battery into ineffectiveness. This usually shows up as the phone turning off earlier than the percentage gauge would indicate (worst I have seen inside 12 months is turning off at 65% on a 3000mAh battery). Bigger batteries either obviate the need for power banks, or do not generate the same sort of heat while being inline charged by a powerbank.
I also noticed people griping about the inclusion (or lack of) a 3.5mm jack for headphones. My personal preference is to have one built in, but most phones come with a USB-C-to-3.5mm jack adapter, if it does not have one, so not really an issue, unless you need to have the headphones in AND charge it simultaneously.
Personally, I am not inclined to ever have a Samsung phone, as have always felt that they are too restrictive in their UI design, and the physical units have always felt rather "cheap" in the construction department, though I admit that they do look shiny. To be fair, I have always preferred the metal bodies of phones like the HTCs.
As a last comment, the "in-screen fingerprint reader" is a two-sided thing. On the one hand, it allows more screen real-estate for those that want wall-to-wall screen on the phones, but on the other hand, forget about using a screen protector overlay, if you want to use it. The thing is sonic; a screen protector will block it. So you get to choose to have an extra layer of protection for your screen, or using the fingerprint reader.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
