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Although occasionally guilty of it ourselves, we’ll admit — smartphone unboxings aren’t always the funnest videos to watch. But alas, they’re a necessary evil, meant to give you a quick first look at what you can expect when you open up x device for yourself (and we typically mix in our first impressions to keep things interesting).
Earlier today, we saw what happens when you crack open an actual Sony Xperia Z3 smartphone, exposing all the modular internals to the outside world. Now, the folks at Carphone Warehouse are giving us a more unconventional unboxing of the Z3, taking the phone deep underwater in their latest YouTube video. Given that the Xperia Z3 has an IP68 rating for water, it has absolutely no problem being submerged in 1.5 meters of water. You have to admit, that’s one killer feature.
Check out the video below and be sure to let us know what you think.
whatever, i don’t get the craze for waterproof phones.
diff’rent strokes fer diff’rent folks!
If you lead an active lifestyle, it’s a god send.
Even if you don’t, it was actually pretty awesome watching YouTube or Netflix in the shower.
Monday night football from the slingbox.
if i don’t use my phone in the shower or go swimming with my phone i don’t have an active lifestyle?
c’mon…
I didnt mention the shower nor swimming with a phone. I do neither.
Most outdoor activities have a potential risk of things getting wet, including your phone. If your phone is waterproof, that’s one less thing you need to worry about getting wrecked by water.
I enjoy bush walking and fishing a lot. If it pours rain, my xperia Z2 can remain in my shorts pocket, get completely soaked and be working like it’s new.
When I go fishing I can use my phone with fish guts all over them and then rinse it off when I get to a tap and it’s brand new again.
It’s no gimmick, it’s a great idea just like tough cameras are.
If you don’t want a waterproof phone, don’t buy one. There are still many water phobic phones on the market.
People like me welcome rugged and waterproof phones because we’re often outside.
we can all think of rare and even bizarre use cases that make any feature useful.
meanwhile, the average user will only desire this for bragging rights.
the Z3 looks like a quality device but when people put down other devices for not being waterproof i’m left scratching my head.
More nonsense.. do you live inside 24/7? Because in my life, where I live, how I live, I am outside – rain, snow, beach, mountains, desert, on bikes in open air vehicles, running, riding, etc – all the time. It is how I live. So I think YOUR life is far from seeing use in this awesome feature, but to say “rare and even bizarre use cases”? Skiing, swimming, beach, rain.. these are all “rare and even bizarre use cases”.
“but when people put down other devices for not being waterproof” – coming from the guy who was marginalized and put this device down for being waterproof. Hypocrisy much?
Well, to be fair, if he lives in Nebraska or Iowa he may never experience a large body of water. If the phone was IPEF5 (Tornado-proof), maybe it would be more appealing?
Ha ha.. well then it still works for him as it does have some great IP65/68 anyone can benefit from. And, why anyone would not want that, even if they just drop it in the toilet accidentally, is beyond me.
In fact, I think this is a very underrated feature – no gimmick – and we will see phones go this route given we use them so much, have them on us so often, they are so $$$$ we need them to be less dainty and susceptible to being destroyed because you get rained on.
Yep, the toilet-proofing of phones is awesome. I’ve known two people that lost phones to the ol’ John in the last couple years.
FYI,
the ONE has been demonstrated to withstand a bit of water. you can’t use it to replace your rubber ducky, but it can take some moisture.
then again, most phones nowadays aren’t going to malfunction from a bit of wetness.
So for you, to consider how it might work best for you, this gimmick.. just imagine that when you spill your $11 coffee at Starbucks on your $600 phone, it will survive.
And in my life, when I capture some underwater footage in Portugal with my phone, it is awesome to me & will survive.
Here’s some every day cases for waterproofing:
– I get chalk on my hands at the gym, then on my phone while recording my workouts. Wash the phone right off.
– Cooking/cutting meats etc i can touch my phone in between steps and just wash it off after.
Some extra cases where I’ve used it:
Taking underwater pictures in Iceland or when I dropped it into a glacial pool. Any other phone would have been f*cked without waterproofing. It seems gimmicky (and in these last cases, def. not the normal use), but trust me you really dont know what youre missing until youve had it.
you must have never been able to use a phone until now.
i didn’t put down the phone, i put down the feature.
i hear this a lot:
“this phone is clearly better than this other phone because it’s waterproof”
rubbish..
“you must have never been able to use a phone until now.”
Man, you just dig your hole deeper.
This IS why I listed all of those other things. Those other things you find so necessary to use your phone, or expect to be there, how did you use your phone before they all came along? Before 2gb RAM, you could still use a phone. Before scratch proof screens, you could use your phone. Before front facing cameras, you could use your phone. Before a flash on the phone, you could use the phone. Before on screen keyboards, we could use our phones. Before they were all only 7mm thin, you could use your phone. You see.. nearly none of the features in phones today did or do we need to “use a phone until now”. BUT every single one of them, even the ones you take for granted now, make the phones better.
the problem with this is you listed things that everyone uses all the time, not just some scattered beachboys.
loading your phone with features that hardly anyone is gonna use is how a phone ends up being a useless and bloated piece of kit. it’s why the heart rate sensor sucked.
a phone being waterproofed is not a worthy selling point.
For those often outdoors ad getting wet, it is definitely a huge selling point.
I’d suggest you just stop listening to the people who tout a phone as better just because of waterproofing. I don’t think anyone here is saying, “All other phones suck, for the waterproofing of the Z3 is the 8th Wonder of the World!”
We’re all fans of a top-end device that has this feature though. To my knowledge, and I could be wrong here, but, most phones that are waterproof are dumbphones. Certainly the top Z3 competitors aren’t, Notes, Galaxies, iPhones, HTC Ones.
There are strengths to these other phones, to be sure, but the Z3 can still stand with those phones without the waterproofing anyway.
Personally, I’m looking to this phone for the PS4 connectivity *GIMMICK ALERT?* but I also just want a change from the Touchwiz/Sense ecosystem.
edit: I forgot, I’m also into this phone for the supposed 2-day battery life!
” but the Z3 can still stand with those phones without the waterproofing anyway.”
i agree with this statement at least.
i’m just telling you that’s what i hear and i respond by saying “whatever, it’s a gimmick”
I wouldn’t call it a gimmick though.
“a trick or device intended to attract attention, publicity, or business.”
I suppose, to you, it appears as though it is, as it’s attracting attention, publicity, and business. But the key difference is, it’s not a trick. It legitimately works. It might not work for you, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have high utility for a large population of customers.
the trick is convincing people it’s a vital feature that is needed when it isn’t. there’s where the gimmick comes in. same thing they’re doing with wireless charging and SD cards. there was a time when Sd cards were indeed vital to a smartphone but as internal storage gets larger that becomes less and less the case.
Going fishing and bushwalking isn’t rare or bizarre for me. I do both at least once a month.
A waterproof electronic device (phone, camera, watch) is of great benefit for my lifestyle. It’s not something for ‘bragging rights’ and I didn’t put down another phone for not being waterproof.
Design wise and hardware wise the Z2 is the best phone I’ve ever used and waterproofness is just the cherry on top.
These days there are several choices of high end waterproof phones and I see it as an excellent thing. Why would I want to buy something that will die if I drop it in the toilet accidentally anymore? I lost a phone once doing that. It’s a worry of the past for me now.
Your 2 responses just show a close minded view of being active so I would say yeah.. you are likely not that active of a person. Plus, you are just purposefully not being circumspect about the value of such a function.
Waterproofing a piece of electronics is no gimmick in any way. But it’s cool, you sit inside at home today and play PSP while I run the beach and jump in the ocean with my buddies for a surf.
since i don’t need my phone to be on me while surfing or need to be in water while at the beach i don’t see your point.
and again, i don’t surf or go to the beach so i’m not an active person because there’s nothing else to do in life that’s fun but surf and go to the beach.
Right.. nor do you see the value for anyone else to have it because, as you said, it is a gimmick which implies some sort of hokey not useful feature. And it is far, far from that.
If you were surfing, and a shark bit your leg off, but just below the knee, your Z3 would still be safe in your pocket and you could call 911 from the ocean!
I suspect BL steers clear of water or the outdoors. So, no chance of that happening. I think he lives in a bubble.
as well as all the other people who don’t surf or go to the beach right?
Nope.. just you as you are the only person here marginalizing a truly fantastic forward moving feature of phones.
You see, the beach and surfing were ways to make really obvious stand out examples. I tried to make it easy for you to have the vision and play along. But to some, it is a simple rain storm while waiting for a taxi in NYC that this will be awesome for. Or the fisherman who makes a living on a wet boat. Or a contractor who might always be in contact with water and dust and dirt and debris. Get it? Or do I need to provide more examples?
Lifeguards!
Plumbers!
Pool boys!
Fire hydrant repair!
as i said before, we can come up with all sorts of rare and even bizarre uses cases for any feature, including the heart rate sensor.
in the end their still things that the majority of users will never use making them unworthy selling points.
Waterproofing doesn’t have to be something you actively use. It’s something that’s there, and if you happen to drop your phone into the toilet, it’s fine. If you happen to drop your phone into the bathtub while bathing your child, it’s safe. If you happen to drop your phone into the swimming pool, it’ll still work. If you’re at the beach and you run into the ocean with the phone in your pocket because you forgot you had it in your pocket, it’s safe. If you are driving along and your car skids off the road and you end up going into a river, after you swim to shore, the phone still works.
If none of those scenarios seem like something that COULD happen to ANYONE who owns a phone, then discussing this with you any further is pointless because you’re just being stubborn.
thank you for naming even more rare and bizarre use cases. with all the people driving their cars into riverbanks this is must have feature!
yeah, i think we’re done here. feel free to have the last word.
Lifeguards and plumbers and pool boys, oh my!
ok, you win. a legit and utterly bizarre use case where this feature can be useful.
Please stop acting like leading a “non-active” lifestyle means you “sit inside at home today and play PSP”. You’re just making a fool out of yourself.
you’re an idiot
I ruined my last two phones (Nexus 4 & Nexus 5) with water. Both were accidents, so IP68 sounds good to me!
Because you don’t live near the beach or a really active lifestyle, because if you did, you would see how awesome that is.
no, i actually wouldn’t as wouldn’t go swimming with my phone on me.
people sure love their gimmicks.
Are SD cards and cameras a gimmick because you personally dont take pictures/need storage?
I love using my phone pool side, at the beach, and i use my phone to play music when im in the shower. Sure they have blue tooth shower speakers, but that’s more money I have to pay, and another device that I have to worry about staying charged.
i’m sure you all loved the heart rate sensor too.
i have no need to a heart rate sensor, it doesn’t actually do anything for me…
however not having to carry my phone in a ziplock when on vacation, or not having to completely dry off my hand every time i want to change the song when i’m taking a shower/cooking is pretty convenient.
You are just trolling. You know darn well it is an awesome benefit.
A flash is not needed, but really helpful for photos… gimmick?
A micro SD card is not needed, but really helpful for carrying extra media… gimmick?
Speakers are not needed, but really helpful if you like to listen to music or use speaker phone…. gimmick?
Wireless charging is not needed, but super awesome feature that makes charging much easier… gimmick?
NFC is great for payment methods and tickets and boarding passes… gimmick?
Gorilla glass is not needed but great for when you drop your phone or get sand at the beach.. gimmick?
The phone you use now has so many gimmicks on it.
it’s not,
and why have you brought up a bunch of other stuff i never mentioned?
his argument is that just because one person doesn’t use a certain feature doesn’t make it a gimmick. A gimmick is generally reserved to being referenced to something that holds no practical use… not just not being useful to a certain demographic.
To point out the fail in your logic.
You call H20 proof a “gimmick” and yet, it is as valuable as those other listed items and somehow they are not gimmicks. So if you use and like the feature, it is not a gimmick? But if you see little to no use in your life, it is a gimmick?
That’s probably because gimmicks are what separate one phone from another. If there weren’t any gimmicks we’d all still be using some random nickel-battery Nokia phone.
If the OPO was waterproof you’d be raving about it.
sorry, i don’t get excited about gimmicks.
Im sure this has been said before, but the camera / flash looks very much like the Nexus 5’s
Don’t care, just want.
The screen wouldn’t register touches while underwater.
Would it be possible to make the connection first then submerge?
Should have plugged it in underwater. O_o
Qi wireless charging works underwater, no?
And then the chant becomes, “Release on VZW, Release on VZW, Release on VZW..”
That would be quite hard to chant… Too many syllables.
Well naturally I expect you to replace “VZW” with “Verizon” and when doing so, it rolls off the tongue pretty easy.
Ya know what’s also cool? That every phone on the market can be waterproof by sending it to Liquipel. That’s what I’ll be doing as soon as I get my Note 4. So much for the killer feature.
For an extra $60 + S/H and time.
What’s cool is not having to go out of your way and spending extra $$ get your device to behave the way another device behaves out of the box.
Exactly
You know what’s even more cool? That liquipel clearly states on their website that it doesn’t waterproof your device completely and should be for emergency spills only.
i bought a z3 compact but really i don’t really care that it is waterproof. I bought a magnetic charger because otherwise it’s a pain in the ass to charge it.
Same charger as the z2?
I am not sure because it is compatible with z3 et z3 compact on the box. Maybe it is working anyway connectors look the same.
That was a pretty cool unboxing. Water they gonna do next?
i SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE.
Best unboxing video EVAR.
It’s a great feature. I have no intention of leaving my phone at home every time it rains… I also have kids, like a lot of people. Kids are messy, but it’s hard to snap and send candid pictures without having the phone nearby. Not having to worry, and for that matter being able to just wash the thing in the sink? Awesome.
Or douse it in bleach…. yum. O_o