Dan Seifert at The Verge:
A waterproof smartphone is a nice idea, but they’ve always been kind of terrible. […] But this summer, new phones from Samsung and Sony mean that you don’t have to make such a compromise.
A good write-up on 2 flagship devices from Sony (the Xperia Z) & Samsung (the Galaxy S4 Active) shipping with waterproofing as a headline feature.
I love the idea, but it comes with a caveat; annoying flappy doors to cover the ports. The Galaxy S4 Active comes with an exposed headphone jack though, which indicates they’re sealing the headphone housing internally somehow–a good move.
The obvious solution is for these phones to integrate wireless charging. Perhaps we’ll see that in the next generation, or in the coming-soon Moto X.
I could see a big market for a weatherproof phone with inductive charging (for the bedside-table overnight charge), and a charging port hidden behind a flappy door for when you need to charge quickly.