Lin Jun, the founder of Xiaomi has admitted to receiving a lot of requests from customers to waterproof their future devices, yet he refuses to budge on their position. According to him, it is not so much a matter of principal as it is about the financial aspect of such an endeavour.

Currently, waterproofing only exists on the higher end device range, with only the Samsung Galaxy S7, S7 edge and S7 Active being the only high-end devices that can take a short swim with little to no problem. Motorola and HTC have only limited splash damage protection, while Sony has completed removed the feature from its Xperia X series after having it on the previous flagship series, the Xperia Z.

As Lin Jun explains, the viability of waterproofing a device, is limited, as often, even the slightest damage can lead to the handset no longer retaining this ability. This makes waterproofing difficult to achieve when customers aren’t looking for a device that looks rugged and hardy, since lighter, softer and more ergonomic materials would be easily susceptible to damage.

The second, and probably the most crucial point, being that the cost of manufacturing would increase by 20-30%, which defeats Xiaomi’s stance as a cheap and affordable device that can give the flagships a run for their money. This cost is not something customers are willing to pay to include such a feature in the phones, and thus until that is not resolved, Xiaomi would not be manufacturing a waterproof phone.

That being said, it is good to note that if you do accidentally spill water on a device, without pressing anymore buttons or connecting it to a power source, drop it in a large bag of rice, light a red candle, recite the name of your enemy 4 times while turning around in a counter-clockwise manner. This will call upon the spirits and if they are pleased with your offering, they might just bring your device back to life.