Water Proof

Samsung has quite a lot packed for its Unpacked event next month and it won't just be about phones. The Galaxy Tab S7 and Galaxy Tab S7+ are poised to be more than just your regular annual Samsung tablet. Based on earlier leaked specs, this year's Android slates are poised to go head to head with Apple's iPad Pros not just in specs but especially in size. What those specs don't mention, however, are also important and at least one of the unspoken details might not be that reassuring.

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OnePlus may be unapologetic when it comes to bucking trends when it compromises the user experience, but it also seems to be just as unapologetic in backtracking from previously held opinions. We saw that a few years back when OnePlus, after ridiculing its peers, also ditched the headphone jack. This year, it might be falling in line with not one but two most-requested features, finally giving at least the OnePlus 8 Pro some formal dust and water resistance certification.

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Most smartphone users probably presume that their phones are water resistant to some degree. After all, it has become a common feature on most but not all smartphones. However, not all water resistance ratings are created equal and even then there are important caveats to those figures. It's hard enough for regular consumers to remember such things but according to Australia's consumer watchdog Samsung isn't helping at all. In fact, it has accused it of false claims that eventually lead to headache and heartaches for unsuspecting customers.

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There is no shortage of Wear OS smartwatches these days but, not so long ago, Mobvoi made a name for itself by being Google’s entry into the Chinese wearable market. These days, the company is making headlines with Wear OS products that are often half the price of their nearest competition. Announced earlier this month at CES 2019, the TicWatch E2 and TicWatch S2 are finally available for purchase and its bringing more than just swim monitoring.

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The newly launched OnePlus 6 has already been torn down once, and that didn't exactly end on a high note. That said, iFixit's process was more interested in checking out how easy, or hard, it is to repair the smartphone outside of official channels. JerryRigEverything's Zach Nelson, on the other hand, had a specific question in mind when he took his OnePlus 6 apart: just how water-resistant is the OnePlus 6. The answer might just surprise you.

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Google was largely criticized last year when its first ever “Made by Google” Pixel phone didn’t come with a suitable IP dust and waterproof rating. Although still not the highest possible, the Pixel 2 this year does considerably better with an IP67 score. It seems, however, that Google has done one small extra step in that direction, which was revealed when JerryRigEveryhing’s Zack Nelson took the already battered Pixel 2 apart. Fortunately it ends on a somewhat good note this time.

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Even before dust and water resistance became a staple of high-end smartphones, Sony has been flaunting high IP grades on its flagship models since 2013. Sadly, it seems that some users have taken Sony’s word for it and didn’t get the results they expected. What they got, instead, was a totally soaked and damaged phone. But now they could be getting some cash as well, now that Sony has agreed to settle the lawsuit instead of just letting it drag on and on ad infinitum. And depending on which phone you got broken, Sony might owe you $100 to $300 in cash.

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It’s just a few days before MWC 2017, so, naturally, LG is kicking off its marketing engines into full gear. Which means even more breadcrumbs of clues, some of which we already more or less know. Still, it’s good to see some more or less formal confirmation of those features. LG has all but confirmed that the LG G6 will be waterproof but now it is saying it as clear as this water. But as they on TV, “don’t try this at home”.

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The way things are, LG might not have any surprises left when it unveils the LG G6 in less than two weeks. It's usual practice is to drop bits and pieces of information leading up to the big reveal, which really only confirms what has already been leaked anyway. In this latest round, LG is practically confirming the smartphone's water proofing, a first for its flagship line, promising peace of mind no matter the accidental circumstances.

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Water resistance is becoming a much sought after property in smartphones these days, with consumers looking at IP rating as much as specs. But IP scores only tell you how long the device might last under water at a certain depth. They don’t tell you if it’s safe to actually wash the phone with soap and water. Kyocera, famous for its hardened smartphones, said back in 2015 that “yes, yes can!” And now it’s saying it again with an all new “rafre”, now with resistance to more kinds of soap.

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Water resistance, perhaps even more than dust proofing, has become an expected feature of almost every high-end smartphone these days. After all, if you’re paying premium price for such a sophisticated device, you’d expect it to survive a few, hopefully minor, mishaps. Until the iPhone 7, however, Apple’s smartphones haven’t exactly joined that trend. But now that it has, it seems to be going full out. According to multiple sources, the iPhone 8 will feature an ingress protection (IP) rating of IP68, obtaining the highest dust and water proofing score that few smartphones so far enjoy.

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At this rate, people will begin to wonder why Japan is getting some of the nicer stuff. It’s not like they’re subjected to more water than the rest of the world. And yet, that market is exclusively getting at least two waterproof models of high-end smartphones. Hot on the heels of KDDI’s LG V34, NTT DoCoMo has put up the product page for the Sony Xperia X Compact, which is practically the same elsewhere, except for its IP68 rating. And as if to add insult to injury, it also comes in pink!

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