Google’s two new smartphones, the Pixel and the Pixel XL, officially launched last week with much excitement from the consumer. While there is much to love about both phones, which are admittedly the same save for a couple of key details like the screen size and resolution as well as the battery capacity, one feature which both phones are unfortunately missing is the waterproofing that can be found on other high-end flagship devices that were launched this year. According to Wired, Google ran out of time on the phone manufacturing and development which caused them to make a decision to leave waterproofing off of the list of specifications.
Both the Pixel and the Pixel XL come with an IP53 rating, which is technically water resistant, but not anywhere near the level of resistance that can be found on something like the Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 Edge. Running out of time makes even more sense if you consider that Google reportedly started re-developing the Pixel phones from the start around the end of last year after having done away with all the work they had previously done on their own phone. If the report is to be believed, then that means Google was already working on their own phone some time ago and likely would have had enough time to work in the waterproof rating.
While neither device is waterproof, the rating that it does have is better than not having any water resistance rating at all. Having said that, it isn’t recommended that people take less care of their devices or stop worrying about them getting water damage, even though there are reports of people testing the Pixel phones in water with favorable results. This is because the IP53 rating is just for light dust and water resistance, so the best practice would likely be to avoid getting dust or water near your device just to be safe. Taking the lack of time into consideration, Google would likely do everything they could to include waterproofing in their next device or devices, as it seems to be becoming more and more of a standard across the industry.