There are many parts of the smartphone experience that are a matter of personal preference — like screen size, specific internal components, expandable storage, certain exterior materials, software features and the like. All of those areas provide smartphone companies with room to differentiate and make unique devices with interesting selling points. Just one of those choices could make or break your decision to buy the phone. But no matter your preference in each of those areas, you should expect a certain level of base features and capabilities — particularly when the price tag goes above $600. Dust and water resistance

This is the simplest thing to expect nowadays. Just about every phone and tablet that's more than a couple hundred dollars inherently has some level of water ingress protection, but higher-end phones go so far as to actually be tested and certified up to a certain point. You may think you're careful and your phone doesn't need to have dust and water resistance, but sometimes this is out of your hands — and the phone should be protected from it. There are varying levels of protection, and it's a little annoying to try and decode, but look for your phone to have an "IP" rating of 57, 58, 67 or 68. The first number, 5 or 6, relates to dust protection, while the second number, 7 or 8, refers to water protection. You don't really need to know the details of the exact circumstances phones are tested to reach each level, but just know that "splash proof" definitely isn't the same as having a proper full IP rating noted above. How 'waterproof' is my phone? What those IP numbers really mean Samsung led the way for mainstream adoption of IP resistance ratings as a "must-have" feature, and the Galaxy S9 and S9+ are still advertised heavily as having the feature. Nowadays, all of the best phones have water resistance ratings — though the Galaxy S9 and S9+ do it while keeping a headphone jack. See Galaxy S9 at Amazon A screen completely usable in daylight We often focus on screen size and resolution, which are also important in their own right, but neither really matters if you can't see the phone out in the sun. Likewise, a good camera doesn't do you a ton of good if you can't actually see the viewfinder and operate the buttons with sun beating down on the screen. You shouldn't be afraid of the sun — and knowing is about more than just nits. A rising tide of mobile display quality has lifted just about every phone up to an acceptable level of daylight visibility, but it isn't universal just yet. Look at the synthetic brightness level — quoted in nits — of the phone you're considering, but know that that doesn't tell the whole story. There are many other parts of the display components, tuning and software that make a difference in daylight visibility. Every phone looks great and seems really bright indoors, but if at all possible go get it out in the sunlight to see what it's really like. Read reviews and look for remarks specifically about daylight visibility — you should expect to be able to use your phone unencumbered outdoors. Samsung's Galaxy S9 once again leads in this respect, and it's for two reasons. Is SuperAMOLED display has high contrast and generally great brightness — but it also has an automatically-triggered sunlight mode that boosts the contrast and brigthness when it detects harsh sun, meaning you'll always be able to see the screen. The LG G7 deserves a mention here as well, because it has a brightness boost mode that pushes its screen up to an insane 1000 nits of brightness — unfortunately, it doesn't trigger automatically like Samsung's screen does. See Galaxy S9 at Amazon A camera that is usable in all lighting