Having dipped a toe in the water last year with the Galaxy S4 Active, Samsung has decided the water’s fine and dived straight in. Its flagship phone this year, the
, scores a rating of IP67. That means it can be submerged up to 1 meter in depth for up to 30 minutes, and no dust particles are able to enter the phone at all. You will need to make sure that the plastic flap that covers the USB port is securely closed and, since you can open the back, double check that the cover is firmly in place.
If splashing (sorry) out on the Galaxy S5 isn’t an option, then don’t forget to take a look at the
. It has exactly the same IP67 rating as the new Galaxy S5 and it’s a good deal cheaper. The specification is good, too. The 5-inch screen has a 1080p resolution, there’s a Snapdragon 600 processor inside, and the camera has 8-megapixels.
Kyocera has produced rugged phones for a while, but they’re not all that inspiring. It improved recently with the Hydro Elite, which can be purchased through Verizon. It scores IPX5 and IPX7, which means it’s capable of handling rain and jets of water, and it’s safe to dunk in just over 3 feet of water for up to 30 minutes. To clarify, if the letter X appears in any IP ratings, it means it’s not officially classified. However, if something is water resistant, a degree of dust protection will be built-in. The Hydro Elite runs Android 4.3 out of the box and has a pretty decent spec – including a 4.3-inch screen, an 8-megapixel camera, and 4G LTE – for the $350 off-contract price tag.
Kyocera Hydro Xtrmh
Kyocera also sells the Hydro Xtrm, which gets an IP57 dust and water protection, plus it reaches military standards for shocks and drops. This means it looks a lot more rugged than the Hydro Elite, but it still has 4G LTE, a 4-inch screen, and a dual-core processor. It’s sold through T-Mobile, US Cellular, and MetroPCS.
Motorola Moto G can handle dampness
Rewind a couple of years and Motorola was turning out water resistant phones like the Motorola Defy Plus, which was IP67 rated. There was also the Kevlar-coated Droid Razr Maxx with its water-repellent nanomaterial. No one paid much attention back then, so Motorola quietly dropped the water resistance as a selling point, but the Moto G does have a water resistant nano-coating. It makes no claims about being waterproof, but check out this
YouTube video to see how it deals with a dunk. There’s no IP rating and we don’t think you should try this at home, but the Moto G will probably survive an accidental spill.
HTC One M8 has some subtle abilities
HTC doesn’t promote the One M8's ability to withstand a little dampness, but according to
a company spokesperson, it’s rated to IPX3 levels. This means the device is protected against spraying water, but only at certain angles, and a set pressure. It’ll do so for five minutes though. It’s not going to last if you drop it in the bath, but it’ll do fine in the rain.
The rugged brigade, and cheaper options
If water resistance is of paramount importance to you, and you don’t care what your smartphone looks like, then you might want to check out some rugged options.
Sprint offers the Kyocera Torque, a 4G phone rated to IP67 standards, and there’s also the ridiculously-named Casio G’zOne Commando at Verizon. Other, less well-specced waterproof phones from Kyocera include the Hydro Plus, the Torque, and the Hydro Edge.
There are even phones branded with heavy machinery manufacturers badges, like the Cat B15 from Caterpillar, and the Toughphone from JCB, but they’re not up to the technical abilities of hardware from Sony and Samsung.
Alternative solutions, if a new phone isn’t an option
If buying a waterproof phone isn’t practical, and you’d rather give your existing device some protection, there are options out there for anyone needing to make their own phone waterproof.
For those on a very strict budget, the simplest and cheapest way is to seal it inside a ziplock bag. It’s not going to look good, or function very well, and it’s certainly not going to be the safest approach, but it will work. Alternatively, there are a few plastic bags designed specifically for electronics, so opt for one of those if you don’t mind spending a little more. A good example is a bag from
Dry Case, which comes with all the extras you’d want.
If you would prefer a case for your phone, there are various companies like
Lifeproof offering fully waterproof cases, but they’re always pretty bulky. Finally, there is also a company called
Liquipel that will apply a water resistant nano-coating to any smartphone or tablet. It should be enough to cope with an accidental splash or a very brief dunking, much like the Moto G.
That’s it for water resistant and waterproof phones, but we will update this list as more emerge, and we’re expecting it to become a standard feature on high-end smartphones soon. Article originally published by Simon Hill on 3-10-2014. 
image courtesy of Digital Trends
