Waterproof phones and tablets are becoming more and more prevalent as the year passes, and they will only gain more of a presence as we move forward into the future of mobile devices. Sony is one of the first OEM’s to produce a device that had such capabilities as being waterproof, with their release of the Xperia Z1. It appears though that Sony has been told they aren’t allowed to refer to the Xperia Z1 as “waterproof” any longer, at least, in a certain region of South Africa. Reports state that the Advertising Standards of South Africa have prohibited Sony from using the term Waterproof in their marketing of the Xperia Z1, a decision resulting from a complaint of a displeased user who claims the device stopped working after use in the water.
With current devices Sony is still marketing those phones and tablets as waterproof thanks to the IP rating, however this particular attribute of the phone requires that all ports be closed and sealed so that no dust or water is capable of entering into the device. According to the source the woman says all the ports on the phone were closed, but her Xperia Z1 still stopped working after about a week following the use in water. The issue arose with the individual after she was denied a replacement or repair of the device due to what Sony and the carrier are claiming was improper use and closure of the ports, and the carrier making a statement that the phone is in fact not waterproof but instead, only “water resistant.”
Regardless of how this all came about, the end result is that Sony cannot market the Xperia Z1 as a waterproof phone in that particular region of the globe any longer. They can however still market the Z1 as a waterproof device elsewhere, as wellas their other more current devices, unless similar complaint cases come up in other regions and lead to a similar ruling, which we wouldn’t put it past people to attempt to initiate. The feature of water resistance has come a long way, but even with Sony’s superior waterproof ratings, the phones can still be susceptible to damage if not cared for as intended. There’s no way to know for certain if the ports were in fact completely closed, but we’d wager that might be entirely the case.