Water resistance is one of the most-demanded features when it comes to the smartphones of today. But Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has a strong reason or two why its smartphones don’t sport that particular feature.
Founder Lei Jun has gone on record to explain why Xiaomi phones don’t come with waterproofing capabilities. For one, the feature doesn’t essentially guarantee long-term safety. According to the Xiaomi boss, even minor damage to the phone can render its waterproofing ineffective. More importantly, waterproofing a phone will add to manufacturing cost — up to 20-30% — and that is something Xiaomi would like to avoid, considering it’s known globally for aggressive pricing
According to Jun (via TechWeb), water resistance is one of the must-have features from its consumers. He, however, confessed that Xiaomi may add the feature if consumers are ready to pay up the extra cost. Jun’s clarifications also made it clear that the Chinese company currently has no plans to launch a waterproof device for a while.
Water resistance added by manufacturers came under scrutiny last year when Sony claimed that users may void their Xperia device’s warranty if the device gets submerged. The revelation was surprising considering that Sony has repeatedly touted the water resistance on its devices in the past, Gadgets 360 reported.
In other news, Xiaomi co-founder and president, Lin Bin has said that the company is planning to launch a new high-performance flagship — probably the Mi Note 2 — in July, according to a report
The Mi Note 2 is rumored to have a curved screen, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 821 processor with 6 gigs of RAM under the hood and a dual-camera setup on the back.
Meanwhile, Xiaomi will launch its 6.44-inch Mi Max phablet in India on June 30.