Waterproof and durable Smartphones

Only big and bulky phones used to offer waterproof and dust proof protection. Yes, I am talking about the types of phones you see construction workers using, or even everyday people who just want a phone they don’t have to worry about.

But, today we are seeing this type of durable and strong protection in the same shapes and sizes as our current day smartphones. For example: The Samsung Galaxy S5. This smartphone offers an IP 67 rating which means Waterproof and Dust Proof! Pretty nice, eh?

IP Ratings:

Basically IP Ratings stand for International Protection Marking or Ingress Protection Marking, and it’s a system that classifies the protections for water and dust intrusion. The two main IP ratings we are currently seeing for smartphones are IP 67 (Totally protected against dust/protected against water immersion between 15cm and 1m) and IP 57 (Protected against dust-limited ingress/water immersion between 15cm and 1cm). In general, the higher the number the better the protection.

Some IP rated smartphones of today are as follows:

IP67: The Samsung Galaxy S5, Galaxy S4 Active.

IP55,57,58: Sony Xperia Z1, Z1S, Z2, the Phablet sized Xperia Z ultra (6.4 in display!) and my favorite the Sony Xperia Z1 compact!

And, a very cool mention: The Caterpillar B15. Yes, folks the same company that makes construction equipment now makes smartphones! This bad boy can take a beating too, plus it’s IP 67 rated.
The durability part, which most IP rated phones don’t have is the MIL-STD ratings. What does MIL-STD mean?

MIL-STD Definition: “A document that establishes uniform engineering and technical requirements for military-unique or substantially modified commercial processes, procedures, practices, and methods. There are five types of defense standards: interface standards, design criteria standards, manufacturing process standards, standard practices, and test method standards. MIL-STD-962 covers the content and format for defense standards.”

One example of a very tough phone that has both MIL-STD810G and I.P.67 ratings is the: Nautiz X1. The Nautiz X1 isn’t a phone much people have heard of. Information that I find on this phone points that it’s a top notch device when it comes to waterproof and durable protections. I recommend doing your own research on this device before you buy it. Let me know what you come up with!

So, some of you may question. Does my iPhone 5S have any of these protections? The answer is no for now, but from what I have found from my research I believe that the iPhone 6 will. Having a iPhone that can be waterproof, dust proof, and maybe a little durable would be a wonderful thing. This means no more big thick cases!

Of course, there are many more durable phones available than I am not listing, but I hope this article leaves you with a good understanding of what being durable means in the smartphone world.