4 causes I believe smartphones nonetheless aren...

To offer credit score the place credit score’s due, fashionable smartphones may be fairly resilient. My

iPhone 16 Pro
, as an illustration, sports activities a titanium shell in addition to crack- and scratch-resistant glass. With regards to water and dirt, it has an

IP68 rating
— it is successfully dustproof, and might survive submersion in recent water to six meters (19.7 toes) for half-hour. Examine that with the unique

2007 iPhone
did not have an IP score in any respect. You have been taking fairly a big gamble the second you went outside. Even your house or workplace was dangerous — it isn’t like kitchen tile is that a lot softer than asphalt.

We have nonetheless received a methods to go, although, earlier than I will be assured taking a cellphone wherever with no case. Certainly, we have truly gone backwards in some methods from the pre-smartphone period. I doubt firms will resolve that anytime quickly, given their priorities, nevertheless it’s price mentioning points within the hope that they do.

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1

It is nonetheless too straightforward to break the again of your cellphone

Type should not overcome perform

Tesla

Whereas many telephones now use titanium or aluminum shells to guard their inside elements, these supplies are sometimes paired with some type of Corning Gorilla Glass (or an equal). Corning’s engineers appear to be doing good work — on the finish of the day, nonetheless, glass is glass, as Tesla demonstrated all too vividly with the Cybertruck. It is nonetheless going to crack or scratch when sufficient pressure is utilized, and nobody needs to hold round a cellphone with ugly spider fractures on the again. That is why I at all times advocate individuals purchase rugged circumstances for his or her telephones as a substitute of one thing slimmer and extra engaging. There isn’t any sense risking your cellphone’s resale worth within the title of chasing beauty.

Smartphone makers and consumers alike must recover from the necessity for “horny” electronics. As an alternative of glass, I might personally a lot relatively have thick plastic, and even rubber. These supplies are what many early cellphones used, together with the Nokia 3310, which was famously so robust that you possibly can run it over with a car with out doing main injury. I doubt any Pixel 9 homeowners are wanting to repeat that experiment.

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2

Typically IP68 is not sufficient

Thousand-dollar telephones deserve thousand-dollar safety

OnePlus

Actually, in most circumstances, IP68 water resistance is superb. It’s going to save your cellphone in the event you by accident spill some sambuca on it on the bar, or drop it in the bathroom or bathtub at dwelling. You will even be high quality in the event you get caught in a rainstorm. It is a sensible thought to dry a cellphone off after any liquid publicity, however for many sensible functions, a variety of fashionable gadgets are waterproof. I am nonetheless amazed by that often, remembering what issues have been like as a ’90s child. It does not really feel like several gadget with an open port must be secure.

Observe that I mentioned “most” functions and “lots” of telephones. You continue to cannot take most telephones within the bathe, not to mention swim with them, and you might be actually screwed in the event you drop your cellphone in pool or ocean water. Chlorine and salt are inclined to eat by means of a tool’s water seals. There’s in all probability little cellphone makers can do about these corrosive substances, however I am hoping that the trade will ultimately transfer in the direction of standardizing

IP69/IP69K
resistance — sufficient to guard towards jets of high-pressure, high-temperature water. There are only a few IP69 telephones in the marketplace in the intervening time, maybe the most effective recognized being the OnePlus 13. It may very well be the harbinger of a brand new development, if we’re fortunate.

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3

Screens are too uncovered

Just a little raised bezel will not kill you

For nicely over a decade now, the development in smartphones has been in the direction of thinner and thinner bezels, or in some circumstances eliminating them fully. There are some sensible advantages to this — it turns into simpler to swipe issues on- and off-screen, for instance — nevertheless it’s largely executed for visible enchantment. Customers appear to affiliate minimal bezels with superior design, presumably as a result of thick bezels have been unavoidable with earlier know-how. There was no means Samsung’s first Galaxy S was going to duplicate the look of the Galaxy S25 Extremely.

There is a motive why many circumstances have raised lips, although — the nearer a cellphone’s display screen glass will get to the sting, the extra seemingly it’s to crack or scratch in a drop. Nobody ought to have to purchase a case to stop this injury, particularly when it is completely potential to construct a raised lip straight into an aluminum or titanium physique. It isn’t even a sacrifice in aesthetics, actually — it could possibly look fairly fashionable if it is executed proper.

Issues truly worsen in the event you add foldables into the combination. All foldables have two shows, with the inner one truly being probably the most weak, owing to softer supplies and a better danger of mud intrusion. You will get a waterproof foldable, however not likely a dustproof one.

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4

Beauty injury is all too frequent

What is the level of coloration that scratches off?

Naturally, there’s some overlap on this level with my earlier ones, however I wished to emphasise the truth that for all the trouble smartphone makers put into their aesthetics, it is nonetheless too straightforward to spoil them. Ask your self — would you set your iPhone 16e in the identical pocket as your keys? Most likely not, since simply jostling issues round would seemingly lead to a scratch ultimately. It is a unhealthy thought regardless, however the level about fragility stays, and ladies do not even get the posh of pockets in a lot of their garments — they need to jam their cellphone in a bag or purse together with the whole lot else that occurs to be in there.

The proliferation of shiny supplies and uncovered glass is regarding. On prime of that, although, the colour schemes telephones use will too usually fade, chip, or scratch away. Does it have an effect on the sensible use of a cellphone? No. However in the event you’ve spent $1,000 or extra on an iPhone 16 Professional, it is a bit of disheartening to see bits of its coloration coating chipped away in a matter of months. Due to that, I at all times slap a case on my telephones as quickly as potential, and even my Apple Watches. Individuals make enjoyable of watch circumstances proper up till their $800 luxurious buy takes a success from a doorknob.

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