I've seen a lot of complaints about the new smartphone's battery life. I always carry a spare battery just in case in a waterproof holder. On the issue of durability, almost any phone can be made more rugged by an Otterbox case. They make them for lots of different models.
I went free diving at Blue Springs a few days ago. I kept wondering what this one guy was doing in the water talking on a cellphone. I got closer and observed him closely and to my shock he was on a Blackberry in one of the Otterbox cases. He had it tied to his wrist and was swimming around.