Fast Five: Water-resistant smartphones in PH

In need of a phone that can work both on wet and dry environments? In this Fast Five, we’re taking you to a list of water-resistant smartphones that can surely make it through the rain.

The wet season has started, and so are our fears for our devices getting soaked in the middle of the rain. Fear no more, as there are tons of water-resistant smartphones available in the market that you could purchase. We know Sony has a lot of great phones that resist the liquid matter (the Xperia M4 Aqua and M5 Aqua, for example), but we’re diversifying this list and presenting you other devices as well. We could’ve included a few local ones such as Cherry Mobile’s Rover smartphone, but it’s somewhat outdated as it has been released way back in 2014. Here are they, in no particular order.

Alcatel OneTouch Go Play

Alcatel’s recently entered a water and shock-proof smartphone called the Go Play, and it’s a unique device as it sports two-tone halftones and an array of colors. The five-inch OneTouch offers a Snapdragon chip, among other modest internals. It now sports a Php6,999USD 119INR 10,111EUR 114CNY 869 price tag.

Alcatel OneTouch Go Play specs:
5-inch HD display, 294ppi
1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 quad-core CPU
Adreno 306 GPU
1GB RAM
8GB internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD
8MP AF rear camera
5MP front camera
4G LTE, 3G
WiFi
Bluetooth
GPS, A-GPS
Android 5.0 Lollipop
2,500mAh battery
IP67-certified (water, dust, shock resistant)

Sony Xperia Z5

Sony unveiled its superior flagship dubbed as the Z5 last year, and it’s a testament to the Japanese tech company’s dedication to innovate while adhering to their design mantra. While we’re aware that they’ve been making a few waterproof phones here and there, the Z5 was the first in the series not to sport any covering on its ports — which we think is sheer genius.

Sony Xperia Z5 specs:
5.2-inch IPS LCD @ 1080×1920 pixels, 403ppi
Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810
ARM Cortex A53 1.5GHz quad-core, ARM Cortex A57 2.0GHz quad-core
Adreno 430 Graphics
3GB LPDDR4 RAM
32GB internal storage
Up to 200GB via microSD
LTE Cat. 6 Single SIM, Dual-SIM
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, WiFi Direct, DLNA
NFC
Bluetooth 4.1, A2DP, apt-X ANT+ support
GPS with aGPS, GLONASS/Beidou
IP68 certified
23MP rear camera, autofocus, LED flash
5.1MP front-facing camera
Fingerprint Sensor
FM Radio Tuner, RDS
microUSB v2.0 (MHL 3 TV-out)
2,900mAh Li-Ion battery
Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
146 x 72 x 7.3mm (dimensions)
154 grams (weight)

Review: Xperia Z5

Sony Xperia Z5 Compact

There’s also the pearlescent compact version of the Z5 with a 4.6-inch screen. It’s quite a performer, too, as it offers nearly identical specs when compared to its bigger 5.2-inch brother. It’s a David among the Goliaths, we say.

Sony Xperia Z5 Compact specs:
4.6-inch IPS LCD @ 720×1280 pixels, 323ppi
Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810
ARM Cortex A53 1.5GHz quad-core, ARM Cortex A57 2.0GHz quad-core
Adreno 430 Graphics
2GB LPDDR4 RAM
32GB internal storage
Up to 200GB via microSD
LTE Cat. 6
Single SIM, Dual-SIM
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, WiFi Direct, DLNA
NFC
Bluetooth 4.1, A2DP, apt-X
ANT+ support
GPS with aGPS, GLONASS/Beidou
IP68 certified
23MP rear camera, autofocus, LED flash
5.1MP front-facing camera
Fingerprint Sensor
FM Radio Tuner, RDS
microUSB v2.0 (MHL 3 TV-out)
2,700mAh Li-Ion battery
Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
127 x 65 x 8.9mm (dimensions)
138 grams (weight)

Review: Z5 Compact

Samsung Galaxy S7 / S7 Edge

After the public’s dismay on the water resistance feature being removed in the last year’s flagship, Samsung wowed the crowd with this year’s twin flagship entry: the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. They’ve got one of the best cameras in town, and the Korean tech conglomerate also followed suit with Sony in creating waterproof devices without any port covers.

Samsung Galaxy S7 specs:
5.1-inch Super AMOLED Quad-HD display
2560 x 1440 resolution, 576ppi
Corning Gorilla Glass 4
Samsung Exynos 8890 64-bit octa-core CPU 2.6GHz
Mali-T880 GPU
4GB RAM
32GB internal storage
Expandable up to 200GB via microSD (uses SIM 2 slot)
12MP Dual Pixel rear camera dual-tone, dual LED flash, f/1.7 aperture
5 megapixel front-facing camera with f/1.7 aperture
Dual SIM (hybrid), dual LTE
WiFi 802.11ac
Bluetooth 4.1
NFC
Fast Wireless Charging,
Fingerprint Scanner,
Heart-Rate Sensor
IP68 rating
Android 6.0 Marshmallow with TouchWiz
3,000mAh Li-Ion non-removable battery
Black and Gold

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge specs:
5.5-inch Super AMOLED Quad-HD display
2560 x 1440 resolution, 534ppi
Corning Gorilla Glass 4
Samsung Exynos 8890 64-bit octa-core CPU 2.6GHz
Mali T-880 GPU
4GB RAM
32GB, 64GB internal storage
up to 200GB via microSD (uses SIM 2 slot)
12MP Dual Pixel rear camera dual-tone, dual LED flash, f/1.7 aperture
5 megapixel front-facing camera with f/1.7 aperture
Dual SIM (hybrid), dual LTE
WiFi 802.11ac
Bluetooth 4.1
NFC
Fast Wireless Charging,
Fingerprint Scanner,
Heart-Rate Sensor
IP68 rating
Android 6.0 Marshmallow with TouchWiz
3,600mAh Li-Ion non-removable battery
Black and Gold

Review: S7 | S7 Edge

Blackview BV5000

Rounding up our list is something from an Asian brand. Blackview has been slowly creating a following off their device portfolio, and the rugged BV5000 can catch people’s attentions due to its unique look and the promise of toughness built with water-proofing. We haven’t tested if this would survive on a washing machine cycle like its successor does, but it’s one cool device under Php11K that offers unique device color schemes.

Blackview BV5000 specs:
5-inch HD IPS display, 294ppi
MediaTek MTK6735P quad-core CPU
Mali-T720 GPU
2GB RAM
16GB internal storage
up to 64GB via microSD
13MP rear camera w/ LED flash
5MP front camera
Dual-SIM (Regular + micro)
4G LTE, 3G
WiFi 802.11n
Bluetooth 4.0
GPS, A-GPS
Waterproof, dustproof, shockproof
5,000mAh battery with reverse charging
Android 5.1 Lollipop
Violet Black, Camouflage, Sunny Orange

And that’s it for some of the waterproof smartphones you can buy today. It’s raining, so do take precautions as these, and other devices, have limits with their water resistance! Do drop in the comments section some of your waterproof smartphone suggestions.