I'm not sure if that's right.

The NOTE 3 has its loudspeaker on the side (ie/ bottom) and produces tinny noise. Half of the volume is directed towards the user so that somewhat compensates. However, overall its a poor experience.

And the shift to the NOTE 4 had them move it back to the phone's backside. Samsung quoted the reason for the shift was due to lack of space for the new speaker. According to iFixit they're right. The NOTE 4 produces much louder and clearer sound than the NOTE 3. Its mostly due to an upgraded speaker. However, since it fires to the rear the volume is greatly reduced and quality is muffled.

So dual front facing stereo loudspeakers is the best approach to take. You could just have a large mono frontal one and save more internal space. But doing so would increase volume but reduce clarity. I think there should be a balanced between the two.

And I'm all for greater battery life... but I don't want it to negatively affect the experience.
I mean check the HTC One M8... one of the thickest, heaviest and (relatively) largest high-end phones of its time. And what's the result? Complaint after complaint about dropping it !

So when designing a phone its all about choices and compromises. And its a real tightrope act.