Google reveals washable phone case, plus the new midrange Pixel 4a that goes inside it Google has revealed its new mid-range smartphone - the Pixel 4a – and an on-sale date of sometime in October. Priced at £349/US$349 and £499/US$499 for a forthcoming 5G version, the new phone packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G SoC, 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Google swears the 3140Mah battery will last all day. The display …
Sony were the first to make their mainstream flagship phones waterproof (as opposed to making an 'Active' or 'Rugged' variant as Samsung once did), and also their tablets were waterproof too. This was useful for anyone who used their tablet in the kitchen to look up recipes - tablet could be used with messy fingers and then wiped clean with a damp cloth.
*However*, all waterproof ratings are for fresh, clean water. Water with detergent, chlorine or salt may damage seals or electrical contacts. Muddy water can transport silt to places they may cause wear, such as behind buttons.
Indeed. I took some very nice pictures of fishes with my Pixel 2 while diving in tropical seas. The touch screen doesn't work underwater, but double-press the power button turns on the camera, and then the volume button snaps a pic. However, the contacts have refused to accept random chargers ever since.
Why put you phone in a washing machine?
If you're that worried.
Remove case.
Dip in disinfectant for 30 seconds.
Rinse.
Done.
It's as bad as resturaunts giving you paper plates and disposable knives and forks, because all of a sudden industrial dishwashers are unable to clean properly.
Society is becoming more stupid by the day.
Not voting on either comment, but in my case, I don't want that. My case protects the screen, but it doesn't cover it. It protects it by going over the sides, so if the phone falls onto its screen, the case keeps the screen from touching the ground. That combined with a cheap protector over the screen and not dropping it very hard has served me well so far. The case also goes around to cover other sides so it can absorb some shocks from a fall in any direction.
Meanwhile, a case that does cover the screen either makes me use the device with an annoying hanging component or causes me to remove the device more often to avoid the cover element getting in the way. I may want to hold the phone to my ear or have it positioned in various ways in front of me, and something that doubles its area doesn't help in those cases.
I have a quite rugged case on my phone from which I forcibly removed the screen protector because over two-three years it accumulated a ton of scuffs, dirt, stains, and other assorted crud which make it harder to use the phone without providing significant protection. As another commenter notes, the case protects the screen by keeping it from coming in contact with the ground or other hard surface. YMMV, of course, but the screen protector would be the first thing to go if I bought a new case.
What would be REALLY nice would be a standardized phone layout - overall size and shape the same, location of buttons, cameras, speakers, and ports the same, so that accessories (like cases) could work with any phone. Of course, the accessories market is probably becoming like the printer ink market - sell the phone slightly cheap and then make it up on accessories.
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