Nice little camera but build quality is questionable.

1. The rubber grip is peeling already and the rubber eyecup falls off very easily (I lost mine).

Mine gets used a lot, is about a year old, and has neither of these problems.

2. The AF, while generally very good, is nothing special and the outer AF points are unusable with fast lenses.

The AF on this camera is not high-end, but it is good enough in most situations, especially for those of us who primarily use the center point.

3. The controls are lacking - it's easy to bump them on the touchscreen unntentionally and the lack of dedicated dials and buttons is really annoying, but that's am amateur camera. Pentax has those dials on their lower end cameras though.

It is a matter of space. Where to put the physical dials/buttons while still keeping the camera small. BUT, I almost always have the rear LCD turned off and manage with the real buttons (although I wish selecting EC while using the viewfinder was easier).

4. The dynamic range of these sensors is rediculous. Period.

Hmm. Most of us would not say that. I shoot RAW, exposing to the right, and use Lightroom for PP. No problems.

5. The small RAW buffer and slow continuous shooting speed.

Never had a problem with this - but I don't use this camera for high-speed shooting (this isn't what it was designed for).

6. The battery life is pretty bad.

Agreed - but spares can be bought pretty cheaply, and it is one reason the camera is small.

7. SD card slot is in the batter compartment (some decisions were to be made for the size to stay small)

Size again.

8. Dust gets easily on the sensoe and someteimes cannot be cleaned, but I swap lenses very often.

I swap pretty frequently and have not seen a problem.

9. No way to turn off exposure simulation - a real pain for studio work!

This camera was not designed/intended for studio work.

The design intent for this camera was for something small, relatively cheap, with a big sensor and the ability to take EF-S lenses. I'm pretty happy with mine.

Maybe you bought the wrong camera for your needs.