I imagine water resistance comes in handy quite often for many people. It has certainly saved me countless times. Not that I need to go swimming or deep sea diving with my phone, but I have dropped phones in water, been stuck in the rain, spilled a glass of water, etc. I ruined many phones before it became common.

You don't ever really 'need to use' the waterproof feature on your phone. It's more insurance for most people.

I have personally known dozens of people for who'm it's saved their phone including:

• Dropped it in the toilet.
• Dropped in pool.
• Dropped it in the bath.
• Bag flooded when water bottle broke.
• Flooded when coffee cup failed.
• Rained out.
• Pouring rain on a bike ride.
• Pouring rain when needed GPS on motorcycles.

The above are things that happened both to people I know individually and also all of the above have happened to be at some point.

I don't necessarily like the lack of being able to swap out the batteries for a cheap replacement but I do like that waterproofing to a high degree should be a default feature for things like phones. It could be argued to get waterproof cases or keep it in a bag and that's all good and well (except the waterproof cases as they suck and break) but isn't it nice for the default to be that the device itself is waterproof if that was an option?

Water proofing is for more than just taking it underwater though. It's also for getting caught in the rain, leaving it on a bathroom counter while you shower, or accidentally dropping it in a puddle.

I agree that is isn't really necessary for mot people, but I do know quite a few people who use it because they know they know the phone will be safe. My partner uses her phone in the pool all the time. I'm often dripping wet after coming in from surfing, even after drying off with a towel. It is nice to be able to check my phone without worrying I'm going to mess it up.

I'm not saying it is a feature every phone needs, but it is something that some people use. I'm all for replaceable batteries and would like to see them more available. They will improve the longevity of devices as long as they aren't damaged in other ways.

You know, I really like my Essential Ph-1. It was a lovely little phone. I had the little 360 camera accessory that snapped on magentically and everything. It was so cool! Then, 1.5 seconds, dropped into water from which I grabbed it instantly, and it was done. No warranty coverage for dropping it in water, and zero waterproofing, and toasted phone. So, yes, more of us "use" waterproofing on our phones than you would think. The thing is that it didn't need to be this way. There were waterproof phones back before everything was glued glass slabs all the time. Galaxy S5 Sport as mentioned by @HubbleST@lemm.ee above (and other "sport" edition phones). We have a lot of hygrophobic coatings and tech we didn't have in the day of the Galaxy S5 series. We can do better now, if manufacturers are forced to.