I feel like it would suffer feature-creep.

Personally I'd want WhatsApp and Google Maps.

And if you want to deal with QR codes that redirect you to a restaurant menu or ticket ordering portal (I was visiting a country once, it had a long queue for visas on arrival, but it also had a QR code where I could get said visa online), it would need to have a web browser, well there you go, a portal to distraction has been opened.

And then there's a need to have the payment app for the WeChat-esque "Scan QR code to pay" payment system that exists where I live...

Yes this is what I was thinking too. Everyone’s “must have” features will be different. Once we add them all, we’ll be looking at an iPhone.

So what we really need is good parental controls. This will benefit not only parents but also adults who need to parent themselves sometimes.

I actually do have some websites blocked on my iphone using the "block adult websites" feature

Good camera is relative, but Light Phone III that launched this week seems to fit this bill.