If you’ve ever thrown your phone in the pool or accidentally slipped it into a cup of coffee, you’ve experienced real pain. Some things aren’t designed to get wet, and most smartphones used to be one of them. More recently, we have seen a large number of top smartphones that offer IP ratings as standard. However, the very first waterproof phone was released back in 2010.
This award went to a niche Motorola product. Say hello to the Motorola Defy.
Defy convention
This troubled phone is reminiscent of a time when phone design was geared towards keeping clever features in mind, rather than keeping up with trends. In this case, it wore its tough aesthetic like a jumpsuit that focused on its resistance to daily life rather than its reflection. That’s not to say it wasn’t an attractive device.
The Motorola Defy was a fat beast with a 3.7-inch TFT display that was anchored to a 107mm long and 13mm thick case. This display was also provided with a gorilla glass coating, which made it possible to largely remove scratches and abrasions.
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In terms of performance, the Defy was pretty knowledgeable for its time too. An OMAP chipset with 512MB of RAM pushed pixels around this 854 x 480 screen. It ran Google’s burgeoning Android 2.1 under its own chunky MotoBlur skin. The phone wasn’t lightning fast, but it was certainly enough for the users of the time to surf the Internet, watch YouTube clips, or use Google Maps.
Sure, these features were largely expected of any Android phone at the time, but what’s noteworthy is how Motorola put a fairly competent Android device in a waterproof package.
Cause a stir
The trump card of the Motorola Defy was the protection class IP67. This standard allows immersion in one meter of water for up to half an hour without the device leaking.
Motorola used some surprisingly practical solutions to achieve this rating. The Defy used a plastic case, but sealed the USB port and headphone jack behind chunky rubber plugs. However, the only way the phone could truly protect itself from water was with those plugs attached to those jacks, so it wasn’t completely foolproof. The back plate, which could be removed to access the SIM slot, SD card slot, and removable battery, was also sealed to keep out dust and moisture.
connected: Everything you need to know about waterproof technology and IP protection
These measures were simple, but they allowed the Defy to do what many other Android devices simply couldn’t do at the time. Unsurprisingly, Motorola inspired contemporaries to embrace the rugged phone philosophy too. After Defy launched, a number of companies came out with their own rugged Android phones. In 2011, Sony Ericsson would launch the Xperia Active, while Samsung would also introduce the Xcover series.
It was a few more years before serious stitches hit flagship devices with waterproof properties. Sony was one of the first to introduce this when the Xperia Z debuted in 2013. Samsung followed suit in 2015 with the Galaxy S5. In the meantime, Apple and Google unveiled their IP67 flagships in the form of the iPhone 7 and Pixel 2 in 2016 and 2017.
The next decade of water resistance
In recent years, waterproof technology has advanced beyond rubber stoppers. Thanks to the adhesives, inner grommets, and coatings used in modern glass sandwiches, these sturdy bodies and bulky designs are no longer needed to fend off the strange rainstorm.
While water resistance is nearly ubiquitous on today’s flagship ships, it may not always be taken for granted. When companies experiment with multiple screens, collapsible bodies, and crazy rotating structures, keeping water and dust off those hinges and folds can become a real challenge.
One can imagine how future devices will repel splashes and clouds of dust. In the search for the next big marketable feature, handy additions to equipment like water resistance can fall by the wayside. That would be a real shame if you are an avid coffee drinker.
This is the seventh post in our Did You Know That series, where we dive into the Android history books to uncover important and interesting facts or events that have been forgotten over time. What would you like to see from us next? Let us know in the comments.