Water and Dust protection will be coming more budget-friendly

The battle in smartphone industries has become fiercer than ever, along with the rapid growth of mobile tech, the competition nowadays is no longer just in hardware specs and price, but has enter the area of features. 

One of the most wanted feature in a smartphone is protection from water and dust, unfortunately this feature is still considerred premium, thus only can be found in SOME, yes you read it right, only some, not all, highend flagship smartphones. The good news is, in the near future, starting from 2015, this ocean-n-sahara proof feature will be coming to lower-mid-end smartphones (sub $300), with sony leading to open the path, and expectedly, will be followed by Samsung, HTC, Motorola and Lenovo, (Xiaomi??? ). 


Smartphones (and maybe tablets) with this feature, have IP (international/ingress protection) code, which consist of two digit numbers, to better understand it, please take a glimpse to the following tables.

The first digit indicates protection from solid particle.

Level	Object size protected against	Effective against
0	—	No protection against contact and ingress of objects
1	>50 mm	Any large surface of the body, such as the back of a hand, but no protection against deliberate contact with a body part
2	>12.5 mm	Fingers or similar objects
3	>2.5 mm	Tools, thick wires, etc.
4	>1 mm	Most wires, screws, etc.
5	Dust protected	Ingress of dust is not entirely prevented, but it must not enter in sufficient quantity to interfere with the satisfactory operation of the equipment; complete protection against contact (dust proof)
6	Dust tight	No ingress of dust; complete protection against contact (dust tight)

The second digit indicates protection from liquid, WATER to be precise. PLEASE DONT SUBMERGE IT IN OTHER TYPE OF LIQUIDS!!! 

Level	Protected against	Testing for	Details
0	Not protected	—	—
1	Dripping water	Dripping water (vertically falling drops) shall have no harmful effect.	Test duration: 10 minutes Water equivalent to 1 mm rainfall per minute
2	Dripping water when tilted up to 15°	Vertically dripping water shall have no harmful effect when the enclosure is tilted at an angle up to 15° from its normal position.	Test duration: 10 minutes Water equivalent to 3 mm rainfall per minute
3	Spraying water	Water falling as a spray at any angle up to 60° from the vertical shall have no harmful effect.	Test duration: 5 minutes Water volume: 0.7 litres per minute Pressure: 80–100 kPa
4	Splashing of water	Water splashing against the enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effect.	Test duration: 5 minutes Water volume: 10 litres per minute Pressure: 80–100 kPa
5	Water jets	Water projected by a nozzle (6.3 mm) against enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effects.	Test duration: at least 15 minutes Water volume: 12.5 litres per minute Pressure: 30 kPa at distance of 3 m
6	Powerful water jets	Water projected in powerful jets (12.5 mm nozzle) against the enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effects.	Test duration: at least 3 minutes Water volume: 100 litres per minute Pressure: 100 kPa at distance of 3 m
6K	Powerful water jets with increased pressure	Water projected in powerful jets (12.5 mm nozzle) against the enclosure from any direction, under elevated pressure, shall have no harmful effects.	Test duration: at least 3 minutes Water volume: 75 litres per minute Pressure: 1000 kPa at distance of 3 m
7	Immersion up to 1 m	Ingress of water in harmful quantity shall not be possible when the enclosure is immersed in water under defined conditions of pressure and time (up to 1 m of submersion).	Test duration: 30 minutes Immersion at depth of at most 1 m measured at bottom of device, and at least 15 cm measured at top of device
8	Immersion beyond 1 m	The equipment is suitable for continuous immersion in water under conditions which shall be specified by the manufacturer. Normally, this will mean that the equipment is hermetically sealed. However, with certain types of equipment, it can mean that water can enter but only in such a manner that it produces no harmful effects.	Test duration: continuous immersion in water Depth specified by manufacturer, generally up to 3 m
9k	Powerful high temperature water jets	Protected against close-range high pressure, high temperature spray downs.	—

The biq question is, can a smartphone with dust and water protection has a removable battery??? Take a deep breath, try to relax, aaaaannd.................the answer is YES!!!  FYI samsung galaxy s5 which has ip67 certification, als o has a removable battery!

So for those on a budget, get ready and be happy, your dream feature is coming. Is it really your dream feature? if you are given an option, which of the features that you really, really love to have in your smartphones (or tablets)? please articipate in the poll or leave a comment.


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