The S4 active was water resistant for 30 minutes up to a meter but lots of reviews say that’s questionable. I know for a fact the original S4 was not. It was my first phone and the back was nothing more than plastic that clipped on. I’d pop it off and clean the dust and pocket lint out of it every now and then and I had that bastard in an OtterBox.
At any rate, not saying you can’t make water proof phones with replaceable batteries, but it is far easier and cheaper to design them as fully enclosed. Rubber gaskets can wear out over time and they will never be as leak proof as something permanently sealed. There is, at least, a potentially logical argument for it. Even if it’s based on taking the easy way out that also happens to serve there planned obsolescence. Of course the next problem is battery tech has improved to the point where even that’s not good enough for these fuckers so they have to fuck with your software updates to slow your phone down for no other reason than forcing you to upgrade.
Edit: I kind of really miss that phone now. Had an app on it caller “glitcher VR” that was pretty cool to mess around with but it doesn’t work on newer android models and the developer never updated it.
Counterpoint: The Samsung Galaxy S4 had a removable battery and also was waterproof. It simply had a gasket on the back cover.
The S4 active was water resistant for 30 minutes up to a meter but lots of reviews say that’s questionable. I know for a fact the original S4 was not. It was my first phone and the back was nothing more than plastic that clipped on. I’d pop it off and clean the dust and pocket lint out of it every now and then and I had that bastard in an OtterBox.
At any rate, not saying you can’t make water proof phones with replaceable batteries, but it is far easier and cheaper to design them as fully enclosed. Rubber gaskets can wear out over time and they will never be as leak proof as something permanently sealed. There is, at least, a potentially logical argument for it. Even if it’s based on taking the easy way out that also happens to serve there planned obsolescence. Of course the next problem is battery tech has improved to the point where even that’s not good enough for these fuckers so they have to fuck with your software updates to slow your phone down for no other reason than forcing you to upgrade.
Edit: I kind of really miss that phone now. Had an app on it caller “glitcher VR” that was pretty cool to mess around with but it doesn’t work on newer android models and the developer never updated it.