Durability is NOT Everything

Neither is performance only. A balanced combination of price and specs are still more important.

If you live in the Philippines where the weather is either dense or humid, you know how tough the rain can be especially during the latter half of the year starting August. It’s no surprise why there are so many brands constantly promoting that their phones are durable and rigorously tortured using certain standards like IP ratings and MIL-STD testing. While these things are good to give comfort to consumers that their investment would be safe from simple drops, that should not be the only thing brands should care about. Why would you need a durable phone if it cannot even last four years because it is lagging already? Ironic, isn’t it?

Oppo, for instance, has promoted one of their new phones, the Oppo A3 and A3x as military-tested and durable, it even has an IP54 rating. Some content creators praised Oppo for releasing a phone catering to those who frequently work outside such as Angkas riders and letting them be comfortable that their phone won’t be destroyed so easily even after being tortured numerous times, such as being hit with billiard balls, dropped on high floors, and let milk and coffee spill onto the A3. Other creators have an entirely different opinion and do not recommend the phone at all, for various reasons.

Honor also used the same marketing tactic but for the X9b. Its main flair was that its display was tough and durable. When you check out the phone on Honor’s official Shopee, you will find it being rolled on by various vehicles, ranging from a Lamborghini to a 15,000kg heavy-duty truck, and supposedly, the phone still survives. When it was first released, various content creators smashed fruits against it, including a huge watermelon, and some tests involved it being thrown on ceramic staircases and the phone’s screen is still intact.

realme also recently released the Note 60 with the same “durability” as the phone’s main highlight. In their marketing materials, they marketed this device as having an IP64 rating and using an “ArmorShell” build. Its slogan is even “tough as steel”, and to prove it, the brand went to extreme lengths like the others. On the bright side, at least the realme note60 is reasonably priced while remaining durable. IP64 is a pretty expensive certification. That means the phone is nearly immune to all forms of small dust particles and can withstand small splashes of water as well.

Of course, these extreme tests mean that customers are expecting something highly when they purchase the phones. They will buy it thinking that even a single drop won’t dent them, after all, you’re paying about PHP 8,999-16,999 when getting these devices. When consumers’ expectations are not reached, then there will be complaints and their trust in the brand or the product will slowly wane, which means they will trust these extreme durability tests less.

Going back to the A3, the phone is durable, yes, but it costs PHP 8,999 to purchase with 6GB RAM and 128GB ROM, an HD+ display with 90Hz refresh rate, and 50MP primary camera, and a 5MP selfie camera, as well as 45W fast charging. The chipset used is also four years old now, the Snapdragon 6s 4G Gen 1, or in other words, the Snapdragon 662. Is this really what consumers are looking for? Durability? Or do they want something else entirely?

To answer that question, we created polls among four groups on Facebook. We asked the same questions every time and let them expound on why they answered that way. Below are the screenshots of the responses we asked a few weeks ago on these four groups.

Like a thesis, we have to state our limitations here, to keep things transparent and truthful. The survey was conducted only on select groups as seen on the screenshot and we have not evaluated the opinions of those who aren’t members. The number of responses also depended on how many saw our poll. We created it to get a general idea of what consumers want, since we believe not all of them are techy but rather join these groups to gain a better idea of the market or to become better buyers. We also ignored price as a priority because we are targetting consumers who would buy phones in the sub-PHP10-15K (~$200-300) groups, or what we call “budget midrangers” like the Redmi Note 13 or Honor X8b.

With that out of the way, we can make a general assumption that consumers still prefer to have better performance on their smartphones, followed by better cameras, in contrast to many content creators stating that consumers should look beyond the chipset when judging a smartphone when this isn’t the case. As we said, a durable phone is useless if it lags the moment you buy it or if you intend to use the phone for long periods, probably at least 2 years, especially now that software updates are now a dealbreaker when buying a phone.

Let’s face it, you’re still spending about 10K on a smartphone so at least having it last about two years makes it a worthy investment. In our poll, barely anyone voted for durability as their main priority so having that as your only flair is not that attractive. Not to mention, the specs of the Oppo A3 for instance, do not line up for its asking price. Remember, you’re getting eMMC 5.1 storage, which means slower read and write, and a four-year-old chip for PHP 8,999, and it’s not even 8/128 at the minimum. There are certainly better options out there, such as the Tecno Camon 30, Itel RS4, Honor X7b, and Redmi 13.

READ THE FINE PRINT:

Before you buy any smartphone, make sure to visit the website if it has one and read the disclaimers and fine print so that your expectation is set. For instance, let’s look at the Honor X9b with their claims of having a durable screen.

This disclaimer right here states that the X9b is not designed to be unbreakable but rather long-lasting. We talked to a few Honor marketers and public relations officers before and they are fully aware of high customer expectations given their ad campaigns. They did state multiple times that the phone is not immune to breaking but far stronger than the competition so at least that is communicated well, at least on certain groups.

However, there are still users who did not get the memo and expected that their phones would be immune to damage, and even outright accused Honor of falsely advertising. This post went viral and accumulated nearly 130 shares and 100 comments. Sadly, when you read this post, multiple people agree with the user’s stance, which can cause reputational damage to Honor. Hence why it is important to read the fine print, especially when it comes to warranty policy.

Honor Philippines does not honor (pun intended) a free screen replacement for the X9b either, so when that display cracks, you will have to pay in full. It is not cheap to replace the display, especially because the phone features a curved OLED screen. However, Honor Malaysia does. Every brand has different policies depending on the market and the decision of the higher-ups.

When checking this statement, there is a small footnote number at the end of it. When you scroll down to the website, you’ll find that this statistic was taken after various lab tests. Multiple brands state that lab testing is different from actual experience and it still depends on the user’s care on how long the phone will last.

Going to the Oppo A3, there is a remark stating that the phone has “passed the MIL-STD 810H military-grade shock resistance test and SGS certification, which include multi-angle drop tests, high-intensity impact tests, and other high-standards durability tests.” It also stated in the same remark that personal usage habits and the age of the phone (this is important since the phone uses an ageing chipset) may affect its longevity.

When visiting realme’s website for the Note 60, you’ll find this footnote right here about its IP64-rating. It states that this rating is lab-tested. This means that real-life use will differ from user to user and the rating is simply there to give users a guarantee and peace of mind that their phone can withstand the elements. However, the brand has no such remark about its “ArmorShell” tough build. Although it did explain what this meant.

According to the website, “ArmorShell” is simply a combination of materials that help the phone absorb shock. These materials include aluminum, foam, and silicone. And as for the TUV-Rheinland certification? It is an international standard to ensure that certain devices like smartphones pass global standards. Almost every phone we saw being sold is tested by TUV-Rheinland.

What Do Military Standards and IP Ratings Mean?

We already covered these two in a separate article so we’ll keep it brief here.

You will find IP ratings every time on a phone’s marketing materials when discussing durability. You may also find rugged phones or even regular smartphones that discuss how they passed SGS Reliability or MIL-STD-810H standards. Are these certifications reliable on everyday use?

Before we get to that, we’ll discuss what IP rating means first. It stands for “Ingress Protection” and this determines how well a device can withstand certain elements of dust and water. This is where brands can claim their phones are “water-resistant” and it’s not like brands can slap in an IP rating on their phone anytime and call it a day. The IP rating is not cheap to attain and brands pay a certain amount to get it and use it as promotional material. For dust protection, the IP rating goes from level 0-6 and for water or splash protection, the IP rating goes from 0-9K. The most expensive to achieve is IP69K and only a number of phones or electronics have that. Most flagships stay between IP65 to IP68, which is more than enough for casual usage.

As for MIL-STD-810H standards, they are legitimately tests done in a lab based on conditions that the military might encounter. These tests are pre-selected by the brand so they can claim their products passed this standard even if only one type of test was conducted. Hence why there are footnotes on the Oppo A3 stating that the phone passed military-grade shock tests and resistance tests.

As for SGS, they are nearly similar to the MIL-STD-810H tests in that brands can pre-select what kind of tests they want their products to be certified to. In the case of the Honor X9b, it would be drop resistance, and a five-star rating means that a product has met high levels of international safety and quality.

The main point of these tests is not for users to constantly break their phones to be durable, but rather to give them peace of mind that what they’re buying is of high quality. We believe the main reason why brands call these tests as “durability” so it will be easier to explain to consumers. It’s more of error-proofing during production in case anything goes wrong.

CONCLUSION: A Balance of Price, Specs, and User Experience are Important.

Going back to our polls, different users have different priorities especially in the sub-10-15K segment. However, at this range, Filipino viewers prefer having a strong chipset to play games and to ensure longevity because smartphones are still an investment. You’re not supposed to throw away that hard-earned cash so easily, so it is best to make sure that what you buy is worth it.

Given how today’s smartphones are almost an essential part of everyday life, it is important that manufacturers not only focus on one thing, such as only having durability or the performance as its main selling point, but also give users a balance of great cameras, a strong chipset, and reliability while also being reasonably priced. eMMC 5.1 storage is outdated in the sub-10K range as most phones today use either UFS 2.1 or UFS 2.2 for faster read and write times. Not to mention, Android is getting more demanding for every new release, everytime an app updates, there will be times it will demand more power from the phone to run properly even on the lowest settings.

Not only that, but our poll also stated that cameras are the second highest priority. With good cameras, you can make your moments truly worth it. Phones should have a good main and selfie camera based on their asking price. If the camera produces soft images during the day and the phone is priced at a sub-10K price point, there is a high chance consumers would actually be disappointed and feel that they purchased a phone that was years behind.

Coming in third place in priorities based on our polls, is software. Good software is characterized by how easy it is to navigate it, update it, and how optimized it is when buying. Optimization not only matters in smooth performance but also when it comes to reliability (such as fixing software bugs the moment it is reported) and regular updates.

A commenter under one of our polls stated that “display and chipset ultimately decides the longevity of a device” which explains why they prioritize chipsets when looking for a phone. Software updates take a chunk of your phone’s storage, as well as battery life and processing power. The more you update a phone, the more space and power it would need especially if it’s a major upgrade, such as going from Android 13 to Android 14.

Overall, having a good balance between specs and price is important because consumers will have high expectations for a phone that is priced really high. If these expectations are not met, then there will be users who will claim that the phone is “overpriced” and will look elsewhere.

Phone features should not be limited to one thing only and they should be marketed in a more realistic sense. Exaggerating them might just cause their expectations to increase, even if the product cannot reach those expectations.