Waterproofing _is_an important factor for sustainability for phones though. Water damage was THE cause of death of smartphones for a very long time until waterproofing became the standard for phones.
This. My sister killed multiple phones per year until she went to phones with good waterproof ratings and subsequently were better sealed.
She hasn’t killed one since. That’s a lot less waste overall than before.
I’m not saying this is bad because of that, but I think it’s something people overlook.
My first iPhone was in my coat pocket at work. I picked up a bottle of beer that was juuuuust cracked enough that it would split around the middle from the slightest bump but not enough that the liquid would leak.
I stuck it under my arm to carry it and it split and spilled into my pocket. Not a lot made it in there but the phone never powered on again.
How? Currently, waterproofing works by slathering every crack and crevice in a sea of glue. Glue and easily replaceable batteries don’t mix.
The S5 had waterproofing with a removable back using gaskets. (Granted, the design was fugly, but that wasn’t the fault of the waterproofing measures. Someone at Samsung loved bandaids) If the S5 could do it, I suppose other manufacturers could achieve the same thing with rubber gaskets. I mean, other waterproof gadgets like dive computers use gaskets on their port covers and what not, so I fail to see why it wouldn’t work with battery compartments.
