Gadgeteer team thoughts – What’s my dream phone?

Do you ever dream about the perfect smartphone? Of course you do, you are visiting The Gadgeteer after all. Well that’s the question I posed to my team of cracker jack gadget writers this week and here are their answers, including my own thoughts on the features that would make my dream phone.

Here we go in no particular order…

Janet Cloninger
I’ve said it before, but my dream smartphone would be the iPad mini with Retina display with an actual cellular phone inside.  I’ve tried the iPhone 6 Plus as a tablet replacement, but it’s just not a tablet – Apple won’t let it be a tablet.  The iPad mini is the perfect size to go in most of my bags without requiring me to add a second bag for just the tablet.  It’s big enough to surf, read, and play games, and the beautiful Retina screen is very easy on the eyes.  With the addition of a cellular phone, I could have a single device that could serve as my tablet, serve as a GPS unit with a screen big enough to easily see in my car, and still let me make calls.  Of course, I’d have to use it with a Bluetooth headset or some earphones for telephone calls, because it’s just too big to hold comfortably.  (And because holding it up to your ear would make you look like a doofus.)  Alas, it appears Apple is abandoning the iPad mini, so I doubt my dream device will ever exist.

Dave Rees
My dream device would be an Android device with the form factor/build quality of the iPhone 6 (aka thin and metal). Running native Android (Lollipop). Minimal bezels, similar to the LG G3. 2K screen quality and size (up to 6″) of the Nexus 6. Wireless charging and SD card slot. Virtual home/back buttons. Power and volume buttons on the side.

Andy Chen
I’m MOSTLY happy with the iPhone 6 Plus (2014) but as usual, I’ve had a difficult time finding a protective case I can live with. My Dream Smartphone would have a textured matte finish on the back and sides to resist/minimize the appearances of scuffs and dents. I don’t mean that “rubberized plastic” paint we’ve seen on phones for the past decade. I mean something baked on, like a crinkly powdercoat finish.

Bill Kuch
One of the reasons I’ve been a late adopter of a smartphone is the way they have been attached to onerous contracts with puny data limits. My dream smartphone is a device that can make and receive telephone calls and texts. It will run the latest version of Android and will allow running of the apps while speaking. The screen size will be at least 4.5 in and can be held comfortably in one hand. Most importantly, there will be no contract required and I could get unlimited everything for about $10 per month. I would expect the cost of the phone to be less than $200. Oh wait….I already have this with the Moto G on Republic Wireless. I’m good 🙂

Mark Rosengarten
I loved my Samsung Galaxy S4 and I adore my iPhone 6 Plus. My ideal phone would combine features from both phones.

1) The iPhone’s Lightning port can not be plugged in backwards. I have tried to plug my S4 in backwards accidentally and over time this could lead to damage to the USB port. I really like the Lightning connector for that.

2) A display of at least 1080p and a screen size of at least 5″ is vital to me as I use my phone to browse the web constantly. Past 1080p it doesn’t matter to me much.

3) An option for a clean phone without installed bloatware would be nice. I know the Nexus series does this. The iPhone didn’t have nearly as much uninstallable bloatware on it as the S4 did. The S4 gets 16 GB and half of that was eaten up with bloatware and the OS. Sure, you can install a microSD card but higher internal memory options should have been available. 32GB on the Android phone would be minimum for me. I have a 128 GB iPhone 6 Plus and that’s going to be perfect.

4) Excellent battery life. The iPhone 6 Plus gets insane battery life where the S4’s battery didn’t last through the day with the same use pattern. The battery life of the S4 got terrible, even with a new replacement battery.

5) A good selfie cam!!!! Neither the S4 nor iPhone pack anything special for that. More phones are coming out with good front cams, I’d like a camera with at least the resolution as the rear cam.

I have a lot of nerve to complain, I know. Ten years ago, today’s smartphones would have been considered the product of witchcraft. State of the art was the Palm Treo 600 in 2004. Can you imagine going back to that? 🙂

Steve Holt
My dream phone does a couple of things that current phones can do, and several things that no existing phone can do… My dream phone can go a week on one charge, and get recharged in less than 15 min. It has a terabyte of storage, so I never have to choose what to store on the phone. My phone monitors my calendar, my search history, my emails, my text messages, and listens to my phone calls to make sure that I am notified of places I need to be, when I need to leave to arrive on time, things I need to get before going home, who I need to returns calls to, etc. My dream phone remembers things when I forget. My dream phone keeps an exact copy of the entire phone in the cloud… system files, apps, pictures, texts, videos, contacts… everything is backed up automatically. That way, when I have to replace my phone because I lost it or it died, I can simply restore my cloud backup and get everything back like it was. Finally, my dream phone is aware of where it is and when it needs to vibrate or ring, for example, if it’s in my pocket it vibrates, and when it is sitting on the table, it rings.

Greg Carter
I’m still pretty happy with my phone, even though it’s a long-in-the-tooth Samsung Galaxy S4. I do have a wish list of enhancements that I’ll look for on my next phone, many of which I’ve seen introduced on other phones:

• A simpler on/wake process that includes security so that I’ll actually use it. Apple’s TouchID seems like the best implementation so far, and its extensions such as Apple Pay are appealing as well.
• Newer phones with slightly larger screens than my 5” screen and smaller bezels appeal to my aging eyes. My phone now fits just fine in my pockets, but I wouldn’t want it much bigger.
• I’m enjoying going caseless for the first time with this phone. I don’t even have screen protectors, which might have been a mistake as I have some minor scratching. A tougher screen, maybe sapphire, would be appreciated.
• I love my handy carpenter-level app, but my current phone has slightly curved sides and a bumpy back. I’ll be looking for a straight edge on my next phone.
• Water resistance would be nice in eliminating a worry factor, but only if the phone supports wireless charging. I wouldn’t want to mess with a port cover every time I charged the phone. (And, of course, wireless charging is great on its own.)
• I want customizable auto-brightness, although I know that there are apps for this. My phone is never bright enough in daylight, so I have it at max brightness, but that can blow your eyes out in the dark!
• One thing that would be great for me, but maybe not too many others, would be the ability to override the selected cell connection in favor of another, as you can do with wifi networks. This is especially important in our house, which has a microcell that sometimes doesn’t get used by the phone. The weak external AT&T signal will drop calls, which is annoying when I know a stronger signal is available from the microcell.
• With the proliferation of external battery packs, a replaceable battery is less of a must-have for me than it once was, but I still want upgradeable storage.

That’s not a very ambitious or imaginative wish list for a “dream phone,” is it? As I said, I like what I have, and it appears to be a problem for the phone manufacturers because they’re having a tougher time attracting satisfied customers to their latest product upgrades.

Elizabeth Rodriquez
My dream device would combine the hardware of Apple (such as iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, with the amazing camera, but run Android. This is what is my first world problem is; do I switch back to iPhone for the great camera capabilities and nice feel of the phone, or do I keep Android because I simply love the operating system better? (So far I’ll stick to Android and keep my point and shoot handy!)

Andy Jacobs
Truth be told, my dream device would probably be a chip that gives me super mental and physical powers, if you wanted to take it that far, but let’s stay a little more grounded. I think my dream device would probably already exist if many of the features of current smartphones were combined together. For starters, I would want it to have impeccable industrial design–the combination of beautiful aesthetics and a simple, sleek interface. For me, Apple has this all but wrapped up with their latest iPhone 6 and 6 Plus’s curved edges, thin cross-section and satin-finish metallic case, as well as their minimalist button scheme. (The one exception would be that protruding rear camera bezel. Really, Apple?) It would be built around a large, sharp, colorful high-resolution display. Again, the latest iPhone nearly hits all of these. For me, a size somewhere between the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus would probably be ideal, and the 6 Plus’s Retina HD display looks fantastic, though I understand the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has a great display also. To round out the exterior, a fingerprint sensor. I currently still have a work-issued iPhone 4S and am forced to enter an 8-character password every time I unlock it, which is a total drag. Apple’s Touch ID unlock feature is a must. Camera-wise, I take a lot of photos with my iPhone and I would want an ultra high-res HD rear camera. And why don’t we just put the nail in coffin of the point-and-shoot market by adding an actual usable zoom while we’re at it? Additionally, I’d want an equally high-quality front camera, because who wants grainy selfies? I’d also like to have some real waterproof capability, which I understand many Android phones now include, like the Sony Xperia Z2, but I’d like it to be fully submersible to a reasonable depth, say 10 feet, and while we’re at it, some degree of shock-proofing. Think of combining the capabilities of a Lifeproof case but for your phone itself. Next up, wireless charging: this should be standard on every smartphone without requiring a 3rd-party accessory. I like the new NFC-based payments and if adoption of this takes off with retailers, every phone likely will included it soon anyway. And while we’re on the topic of interacting with the environment, augmented reality seems poised to be Next Big Thing, giving us the ability to download information about a place or an object just by pointing our phone’s camera at it. And finally, a voice-control feature that really works and is fully integrated with the phone’s OS and apps. I’ll be honest, as much as I want to like Siri, it doesn’t really work that well and Apple has limited its functionality. However, I understand that Android’s voice-control is much better, but still probably not as good as I’d like it. As someone who is health-conscious, I’d like my phone to give me heart rate and other biometric information without even having to touch it. Flexible displays might be fun too, perhaps for the prevention of display breakage. My grand poobah feature would be 3D holographic interaction displays (think Tony Stark designing his Iron Man armor in mid-air with gesture commands) would be awesome as well, but how much more would we disturb people around us with them! I won’t discuss apps, because when apps are combined with new hardware, phone functionality becomes nearly limitless. That about wraps it up for me. That is, until I discover the next feature to add to my perfect device. 😉

Kathleen Chapman
I really want my phone to be able to dust my house, clean my bathrooms, mute complaining kids, and teleport me anywhere! Oh what a dream come true!! Okay, on a more serious note, I would love to have it be able to completely automate our cars as well as our house. This would include reminding me when my car needs gas (I forget sometimes) and automatically giving me the lowest price gasoline nearby as well as alerting me about when my tire tread is getting low and where to get the best price on new tires. It would also be nice to be able to see what staple grocery products that I have that are running low and automatically placing those on a grocery list. Total automation is attractive but also a security concern so even if these things were available I would investigate the security issues involved before buying.

Larry Geisz
I guess for me I am still waiting on a holographic type projection device that is wearable on the wrist. This device would project the image and then be able to recognize your hand gestures so you could air type or scroll through pages. This device would also be a phone and PDA. Think of it as the Dick Tracy watch on steroids.

Raul Sanchez
Here’s my quick two cents on a dream device:
My dream smartphone device would be a combination of past and future features. Obviously, I like touchscreen phones but still like the feel of a dedicated keyboard. Back in the day I use to have the Sprint PPC6700 and I really enjoyed typing on that keyboard. So, I think having a super slim phablet that has some kind of dedicated keyboard that slides out from the back of the phone would be kind of interesting. I even entertained the thought of a phone that was the size of a Samsung Note 4 that had a clam shell design. Kind of line two of the Notes face to face. It would be just a little bit thicker than the Note 4, (trying to be a little bit realistic), and it would open up to reveal on one side is a QWERTY keyboard and on the other side is the touchscreen. This way, you could still have the typical touchscreen phone with the added screen protection of a clamshell design. As far as software, since I edit videos I would like to have better video editing program than just the typical cut and fade features that the PlayStore has. I want a device that I can do some editing in the field if I have to.
Basically, my dream device would be sort of like a super slim mini laptop. I carry a Samsung Note 2 so it’s not too far off until size, minus the clamshell design, of course.

Ryan Chapman
While I never purchased one, the Playstation Vita, and now the Nintendo Wii U has an excellent example of what I would like in a dream smartphone. Since our screens are getting bigger (and I love it!) it would be a dream of mine to port games from my console directly to my phone. Of course, the game companies would never sign into this, since they could simply make their own devices, but it would be nifty. Imagine having a simple Bluetooth controller, sold already on the market today, attached to your phone as you take it around the house, playing Call of Duty, Borderlands, or any one of the great console games, regardless of what console it may be on! Well, at least with the Wii U, I have a start of my dream, except I don’t want to worry about a separate device when my smartphone is right here!

Bill Henderson
As much as I like the Apple iPhone (especially the larger 6 and 6 Plus), it’s not perfect. My dream smartphone would allow me to customize how I want it to look and act. Currently, the iPhone is pretty locked down, but that’s always been Apple’s way. My main desire would for me to be able to drag anything on and off the phone—music, files, apps, anything. iTunes is basically a one-way street and Apple has shown no sign of making it easier. If anything, it’s only gotten more convoluted with each iTunes update. I realize that many of my complaints are probably addressed in the Android system, but I have been an exclusive Apple user since 1987 and can’t (won’t?) change now. My wishes are small but it’s the small things that can make using a smartphone fun and productive or a nightmare.

Smythe Richbourg
Late during the last century, a friend sent around one of those chain emails that we all thought were so great before Facebook co-opted them. One of the questions was “What would be your favorite kind of car?” I said “a chauffeured limo with internet access.” Little did I know that within two decades, I would have the internet in my pocket everywhere, not just in my car. (Still waiting on that limo, though!)