A full physical QWERTY keypad on my 3rd hand Blackberry Bold (in 2013) was the best thing I had seen on a cell phone. I wish full physical QWERTY keyboards would make a comeback.
IR blaster
Hackability
I'm on a Fold 4 now and I do love the novelty/oddity aspect of having a folding tablet.
But I would love to see the return of IR blasters on most phones and sliding phones for physical keyboards.
Lots of Xiaomi phones come with IR and an app called Mi Remote with many devices/brands to control.
Yeah there are still options out there that offer an IR blaster, but I'd really like to see it return as a mainstream feature. Now it's more of a niche thing you don't see often.
Native Bluetooth GPS support. I do mapping for OpenStreetMap a lot and the built in GPS modules are just too bad for that. Currently I have to use an app to get my Bluetooth GPS connected. But sometimes this app fails and the built in GPS takes over and ruins my logs.
It's the rear fingerprint reader for me, I use the pulldown action constantly. That and stereo front-facing speakers.
Slide out controller, like the Xperia Play. I've gotten super into (at least the idea of) SBC handheld gaming, and there's just nothing quite like the Xperia Play now. Sure, there's bluetooth controllers, but I'm not a big fan of bluetooth, and the majority of the bluetooth controllers make portability a pain rather than it being a sleek package.
Ability to use the screen as a display through the USB port so I can debug a lot of my systems at home without needing to carry a monitor around.
sounds like more of a software feature
Max 4 inch screen, IR blaster, physical keyboard with speed dial settings for buttons, form factor like the Xperia x10 mini pro, headphone jack, cameraless, LED with customisable lights for different notifications, bonus - built in projector, satellite phone capability,
Basically an Asus Zenfone 9 with a removable battery and an Sd card. Also, make the front like Sony phones - larger bezels on the top and the bottom of the display and house stereo speakers and front camera there instead of a cutout.
What about an external, optical camera lens ? I would 100% pay for a phone that looks like a brick but that has an optical zoom
Better system font/typeface selection and a way to install new ones. I know it's a petty gripe, but the default android options are few and terrible.
A microsd card slot and a headphone jack
I want a phone with an ultrasonic fingerprint reader, those are apparently a niche feature nowadays. The optical readers are terrible by comparison.
Phone upgrades.
Battery.. Non lithuim. Flexible and new. []
Flexible screen. Wrist strap or just flexible. []
Fitness/health capabilities. []
Usb 3.1 reversible.. Proper specs [x]
Wireless charging. Using new WiFi microwave to charge phone without mat. Wattup []
Better nfc/Google pay [x]
Smaller screen oled,s than 5.5 []
Better speakers none conduction or ceramic
Encryption []
Bezelless. Screen to screen hole cut out. 2018 []
Solar panel in screen. Sapphire glass. Smudge and germ
This list was created a few years ago.
Some things have been implemented but not all.
Does the alert slider counts as a niche feature? Very few brands provides this.
Niche feature....
By Apple's standards a headphone jack.
By Android's standards IR blaster. Had them in my last 2 phone and man is it nice to turn the volume down on a TV which is too loud in a public place like a Hotel Lobby or a Restaurant
I loved the IR Blaster on my old Galaxy S4, was really fun to mess with the TV's in public places with it sometimes and was also pretty useful at home as well!
Plastic back and a removable/user replaceable battery.
Yeah yeah I know it "feels cheap" but honestly I LIKED when phones were made of more plastic. Now they're heavier and both sides are breakable. Like, the metal backs were fine, but apparently metal backs suck for NFC and wireless charging so instead of giving us some classy Nokia Lumia style plastic they went with glass backs.
Also I keep my phone in a case because otherwise the back is so smooth it shoots off the couch if someone walks across my apartment. It's legit only in the case to add some friction.
I really miss the feel of my Nexus 5. It's still one of my favorite phones.
@Rdan33l DAB Tuner!
Keyboard and not every phone looks like a black slab
physical keyboard. I particularly liked the two letter per button like was used on the BlackBerry Pearl.
I enjoyed the squeeze to activate assistant on Pixel 2 XL..just felt right. I even configured it to activate flashlight when I needed a quick light.
Headphone jack, apparently..
The ability to easily unlock bootloaders, IPS screen and removable batteries.
Officially supported rooting! Makes this less complicated.
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