There was a time when water resistance on a smartphone was rare. Now, at the high-end anyway, it’s very common, notable more for its absence than its presence.
But some of these phones are still more water resistant than others and some are also just better phones than others too.
With that in mind, we’ve created this guide to the best water-resistant phones available. Their level of water resistance is a key factor in all of them, but they’re all good phones too.
The Cat S41 is actually the most waterproof phone in this list, as it can survive being submerged for up to 1 hour at depths of up to 2 metres – that’s half a metre deeper and for twice as long as the best water resistance you’ll find on most mainstream handsets.
It only ranks low on our list though because waterproofing aside it’s not as good as a lot of other handsets. This is a rugged phone through and through, designed not just to resist water, but also falls, scrapes and extreme weather.
That, coupled with its massive 5,000mAh battery, makes it ideal for adventurers and explorers, or just anyone who spends a lot of time outside and away from a phone charger.
Its 5-inch 1080 x 1920 screen, 13MP single-lens rear camera, 3GB of RAM, octa-core MediaTek Helio P20 chipset and 32GB of storage aren’t overly impressive though, so if you’re not regularly braving the elements and just need a phone that can survive an accidental dunk or a bit of rain, you’d be better off with one of the options below.
If on the other hand you need something even more resilient, consider the Cat S61 – it ups the water resistance to 3 metres and improves the specs, but comes in at a flagship price and remains a niche device.
This is a cheaper option than most phones in this list, and we’re highlighting it in part because it’s a relatively affordable way to get IP68 certification, meaning water resistance to depths of up to 1.5 metres for up to 30 minutes.
But it’s a good phone in other ways too, especially for what it costs (under £300 at the time of writing).
It has a dual-lens camera on the front, making it more adept at selfies than most phones, and it has a sharp and vibrant 5.6-inch 1080 x 2220 Super AMOLED screen, an octa-core Exynos 7885 chipset, 4GB of RAM, a 16MP rear camera, and a stylish design, with a glass back and a metal frame.
This is a mid-range handset, but it has flagship flair and should suit all but the most demanding users.
The Google Pixel 3 XL is a true flagship, one that just so happens to be water-resistant. As with most phones in this list it has a rating of IP68, meaning it can be submerged up to 1.5 metres deep for up to 30 minutes.
The main selling point of this phone over other water-resistant flagships though is that it runs pure, unadulterated Android, meaning no bloat and no manufacturer overlays, making this one of the slickest takes on the OS you’ll find. This also means that it will very quickly get updated to new versions, while most other phones have to wait months.
There’s plenty more to like about the Pixel 3 XL though, including its big and bright 6.3-inch 1440 x 2960 OLED screen, and its impressively capable 12.2MP camera (which only has one lens but puts many multi-lens shooters to shame).
The Pixel 3 XL ranks below some other phones on this list mostly just because it’s a bit older, and in turn its specs and design are slightly more dated, but it’s still a high-end handset.
Now we’re getting into the territory of truly top-tier water-resistant phones, with the Huawei P30 Pro not just offering an IP68 rating, but also being one of the best flagships around, for a number of reasons.
Chief among those is its quad-lens rear camera, which has a 40MP main lens, a 20MP wide-angle one, an 8MP telephoto one and a 3D depth sensor, so you can take all different kinds of shots, including high-quality zoom shots and detailed night time ones.
The Huawei P30 Pro also has a curved 6.47-inch OLED screen (albeit at a rather ordinary 1080 x 2340 resolution), a great design, an in-screen fingerprint scanner, a huge 4,200mAh battery, and of course lots of power from its octa-core Kirin 980 chipset and 8GB of RAM. If it wasn’t for the screen resolution this would rank even higher.
The iPhone XS is yet another IP68-rated phone, but where most phones with such a rating can be submerged up to 1.5 metres deep in water for up to 30 minutes without damage, Apple claims that the iPhone XS can withstand depths of 2 metres for 30 minutes.
It’s also the only iOS phone on this list, so if you want a waterproof iPhone then this (or the larger iPhone XS Max) is the one to go for. Thankfully, while there’s less selection when it comes to water-resistant iPhones, the options you do have are among the best phones around.
The iPhone XS has a 5.8-inch OLED screen, a super-powered A12 Bionic chipset, a great dual-lens camera and a premium design, as well as all the things you only get on an iPhone, like access to Siri and arguably the best app store around.
The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus is our top pick if you’re after a water-resistant phone. It can survive being submerged to 1.5 metres deep for up to 30 minutes, so it’s not quite as waterproof as the iPhone XS or Cat S41, but overall it’s a slightly better phone than the former and a much better phone than the latter.
It has an all-screen design with an in-screen fingerprint scanner and a dual-lens selfie camera cut into the corner of the screen. There are also three cameras on the back, plus a top-end Exynos 9820 chipset, so this is an enormously powerful phone, and it keeps going for a long time thanks to a 4,100mAh battery.
The aforementioned screen is a real highlight too. It’s curved, big at 6.4 inches and super-sharp at 1440 x 3040, making for one of the best phone screens around.
Any of these phones will survive the rain, or a splash, dunk or spill. We wouldn’t recommend taking any of them swimming, but if you’re going to then the Cat S41 is the most likely to survive.
Overall though the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus gets our vote as the best all-rounder that’s also water-resistant.
That said, it’s also expensive, so if you’re on a budget consider the Galaxy A8, while if you’re more into Apple you won’t go wrong with the iPhone XS. The Pixel 3 XL and Huawei P30 Pro are strong options too, depending on what else you want from your phone.
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