Since the smartphone has taken over the world, there is no denying that we are all hopelessly addicted to these handheld devices. On top of this, the fact that we now go everywhere with them has created some interesting problems for phone manufacturers to try and solve. The modern smartphone customer is demanding a more powerful handset with extra features year after year, but is also unhappy at how fragile the devices are and how easily they can get damaged. This issue has opened up the door for a company like Corning, an American glass manufacturer that have become famous for their ‘Gorilla Glass’ products, which is essentially a stronger glass screen for the front of your phone. In their defense, the glass they produce is incredibly strong and durable, but as their products have been getting better, phones have been getting bigger, thinner and lighter, which is making them more susceptible to damage while making the actual glass screen stronger. On average, there has been no major change as the years have gone by, and we see just as many iPhone 6s phones here with cracked screens as we did when the iPhone 3G was on the market. 

One other area that phone companies have really turned their attention to in recent years is water protection. On paper this is a great idea, but there definitely are some issues with the way that this has been done so far. Now, in terms of releasing phones that are everything that we have come to expect from a top range smartphone (powerful, stylish, etc.) while still offering protection against water, Sony lead the way. Samsung are making an effort to match them in the past couple of years, but it was Sony that really made use of this water protection as a selling point and based a lot of their advertising around it. At first glance, these phones were great and they had small doors or lids over the various ports that would keep moisture out, which worked out very well. In addition to this, you may recall that Sony’s advertising for their Xperia range hinged on this water protection, and these ads featured people taking photos underwater. 

Unfortunately, wear and tear on these phones caused an awful lot of problems, so that even after normal usage the phones would lose their ‘seal’ and start leaking water in. If you were unlucky enough to have an issue like this, there wasn’t a whole lot that Sony would do in terms of warranty, as despite the phones being classed as water resistant, the warranty would not cover water damage the the phones. Recently, Sony edited portions of their website to better explain the protection of the phone and also to provide more information about what IP67 and IP68 ratings for phones mean. When buying a phone based on it’s level of water resistance, researching the difference between these two ratings is highly advisable. Also, it would be a really good idea to have a look at the conditions under which the phone must be tested, and be aware that the testing is not carried out by an independent tester, but by the manufacturer themselves. 

All in all, Sony make excellent phones that provide a much higher level of water resistance than most other manufacturers do, but this water resistance isn’t as good as you might think. Aside from checking Sony’s website and reading about the IP ratings yourself, it’s worth noting that keeping any phone away from water is always going to be a good idea.