Smartphones have evolved considerably over the past 10 years, but one area that has remained relatively static is durability. The Galaxy S7, released in early 2016, was the first mainstream flagship phone to feature an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, and it wasn’t until almost nine years later that this evolved to an IP69 rating with the OnePlus 13 (among other OnePlus and Oppo phones).
In the same period, the smartphone form factor itself has warped into something totally new. We now have flip phones and book-style folding phones, but one of the biggest issues preventing their widespread adoption is durability. Despite many of these devices being tested for hundreds of thousands of folds, consumers remain understandably concerned about durability in the elements.
