Here are the best waterproof smartphones in India

The waterproof smartphones we are going to highlight here have gone through certain IP (Ingress Protection Rating) tests testing their capabilities of withstanding against water.

How many times have you felt the need for having a waterproof phone? I had a feeling just today when it rained heavily while I had absolutely no shelter in place to hide in. I didn’t have a waterproof case and my Galaxy S Plus did suffer a lot. I have no option now but to use the traditional method of immersing it in a bagful of rice for about one hour. Hope it works! If you want to avoid this misery, you have few options available in the Indian market now in the form of waterproof phones. No, you don’t need separate waterproof cases for them. They are exclusive waterproof phones.

The phones we are going to highlight here have gone through certain IP (Ingress Protection Rating) tests testing their capabilities of withstanding against water. This IP tests ranks phones based on a 1-8 scale, 1 meaning not waterproof at all and 8 means numero uno. The IP number specifies the environmental protection of enclosures around electrical equipment. The first number refers to protection against solid objects; the second refers to protection against liquids. For e.g. IP67 would refer to a rating of 6 for resistance against solids and 7 for resistance against water.

Let’s us quickly check the options available with us in India.

Sony Xperia Go:

Sony released the Xperia Go rugged Android-powered Smartphone in India earlier this month. The company promises the phone to be water, scratch and dust resistant and also with an anti-reflection coating for better outdoor viewing.

The Xperia Go has got a pretty “cool dude” for a rugged handset. You generally see rugged covers on top of the devices with unwanted curves that end up making the device look ugly – not this one. It looks pretty much your regular Smartphone with “regular” looks but don’t be deceived by its looks – the material feels solid and the edges and ports and very tightly covered. In fact so tight that you will have a hard time opening those for the first few tries.

Out of 8, the Sony Xperia Go has a score of 7 meaning the phone may not have the highest degree of protection against water but still has endurance level against rains if it is in your pocket. Overall the Xperia scores IP67.

On the specifications side it’s powered by a Dual-core 1 GHz Cortex-A9 processor, runs the Android v2.3 Gingerbread OS (planned upgrade for ICS). A Li-Ion 1305 mAh battery ensures talk time of 6.5 hrs.

On the display side, it has a 3.5 Inches LED -backlit LCD capacitive touchscreen providing a resolution of 320 x 480 Pixels.

For capturing, it’s loaded with a 5 MP primary (no secondary) cameras. Additional features include Geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, 3D sweep panorama.

On the internet and connectivity side, HTML5 and Adobe Flash are the preinstalled browsers, supports GPRS (Class 12, 48 kbps), Edge (Class 12), 3G (7.2 Mbps HSDPA; 5.76 Mbps HSUPA), Wifi (802.11 b/g/n), GPS, Bluetooth v2.1, DLNA and a 3.5 mm audio jack.

The memory is backed by an internal storage of 8 GB and a micro SD card-slot expandable up to 32GB. RAM includes 512 MB.

Important features in a nutshell:

• OS version: Android v2.3 (Gingerbread)
• Processor: Dual-core 1 GHz Cortex-A9
• Camera: 5MP
• Internal storage: 8 GB
• External storage: 32 GB
• RAM: 512 MB
• Battery: 1305mAh
• Display: 3.5 inch

Motorola Defy Plus:

The Motorola Defy Plus again comes with an IP rating of 7 making the endurance level same as that of the Xperia Go.

Powered by a 1 GHz processor, it runs on the Android v2.3 (Gingerbread) OS. A Li-Po, 1700 mAh battery ensures talk time of 6 hrs (2G) and standby time of 237 hrs (2G).

On the display side, it has a 3.7 Inches LCD touchscreen providing a resolution of WVGA, 480 x 854 Pixels.

For capturing, it’s loaded with a 5 MP primary (no secondary) cameras. Additional features include Geo-tagging, Image Stabilization, Auto Focus, and Image Editor.

On the internet and connectivity side, WAP 2.0 is the preinstalled browser, supports GPRS (Class 12, 48 kbps), Edge (Class 12), 3G (7.2 Mbps HSDPA; 5.76 Mbps HSUPA), Wifi (802.11 b/g/n), GPS, Bluetooth v2.1, DLNA and a 3.5 mm audio jack.

The memory is backed by an internal storage of 2 GB and a micro SD card-slot expandable up to 32GB.

Important features in a nutshell:

• OS version: Android v2.3 (Gingerbread)
• Processor: 1 GHz
• Camera: 5MP
• Internal storage: 2 GB
• External storage: 32 GB
• RAM: 512 MB
• Battery: 1700mAh
• Display: 3.7 inch

Sony Xperia Active:

The Sony Xperia Active comes with an IP rating of 7 again. If you see, all the scores settle down at 7. This has been the highest level up till now barring the NEC ES N-05 Smartphone which bears a score of 8 reportedly but not being confirmed officially. Moreover, the NEC ES N-05 is not available in India.

Powered by a 1 GHz Scorpion processor, it runs on the Android v2.3 (Gingerbread) OS. A Li-Ion 1200 mAh battery ensures talk time of 5 hrs.

On the display side, it has a 3.0 Inches LED-backlit LCD touchscreen providing a resolution of 320 x 480 Pixels.

For capturing, it’s loaded with a 5 MP primary (no secondary) cameras. Additional features include Geo-tagging, Image Stabilization, Auto Focus, and Image Editor.

On the internet and connectivity side, HTML and Adobe Flash are the preinstalled browsers, supports GPRS (Class 12, 48 kbps), Edge (Class 12), 3G (7.2 Mbps HSDPA; 5.76 Mbps HSUPA), Wifi (802.11 b/g/n), GPS, Bluetooth v2.1, DLNA and a 3.5 mm audio jack.

The memory is backed by an internal storage of 1 GB and a micro SD card-slot expandable up to 32GB. RAM is settled at 512 MB.

Important features in a nutshell:

• OS version: Android v2.3 (Gingerbread)
• Processor: 1 GHz
• Camera: 5MP
• Internal storage: 1 GB
• External storage: 32 GB
• RAM: 512 MB
• Battery: 1200 mAh
• Display: 3.0 inch

There are currently three options available with two more on the run; Sony Xperia Advance and Xperia Xperia Acro S which are good water resistant phones as well but not yet launched in India.