- [Instructor] Hey, let's talk about
how to physically protect a smartphone.
The best ways to physically protect your smartphone
and some other mobile devices are to use a case,
and some type of screen protector.
Also, use a device that is IP68 compliant or better
and more on that a little bit later.
Here, we have a smartphone designed in 2017
and it has a nice slim, and responsive feel to it,
but it's really slippery so it's easy to drop.
One drop on a concrete floor and this device is history.
So we can use a case to help protect the edge and corners,
and a screen protector to help avoid cracking the screen.
Okay so, we have a case here, it's just a basic case.
And this particular screen protector
is a plastic based one that requires water to install.
And so, that's a little bit more of a difficult install
than, say, a glass based protector.
But with a lot of these devices that have curved screens
the glass based might not work as well.
So you might opt for one of these instead.
But you gotta be real careful when installing these,
and definitely watch any installation videos prior
to doing it.
With the water based stuff you have to let it sit
for 12 hours or so, whereas the glass based
you could just put it on, and you're done.
The benefits with the water based,
or the plastic screen protectors
is that you get a little bit better visibility,
and a little bit better swiping,
ability to swipe on the device
as opposed to a glass protector.
But definitely a more in depth installation,
so you gotta be careful with that.
Okay so, I've done the installation.
So now we have our smartphone all set up with the protector
and case, it has a bigger footprint now yes,
but the protection that we gain far outweighs
the novelty of an unprotected phone.
After a day or two, the average person doesn't even notice.
The footprint isn't really that much bigger,
but the protection that we gain really makes it worth it.
Now there's two other things that could be damaging
to mobile devices and the main things
that we're concerned with are dust
and, most especially, water.
That's where the IP code comes in.
IP ratings have two numbers, for example,
the 6 and the 8 in IP68, the first number deals
with solid particle protection, namely dust.
With mobile devices, this is usually 6,
meaning that it is dust tight,
and that we have complete protection from dust.
The second number deals with liquid ingress,
for example, water.
Quite often, you will see the number 8,
which means that the device can be immersed
in water at one meter, or more for an amount
of time that is specified by the manufacturer
of the device, of the phone.
Commonly, this will be specified as one meter
for up to 30 minutes, but it could be
more depending on the manufacturer's interpretation
of IP68, and how they apply the specification.
It could be said that the IP rating is just as important as,
say, the specification for the CPU that the device uses.
This particular phone is IP68 compliant.
But if your device is not then, you can get cases
that will make it either IP65, or IP68 compliant.
Note that the IP68 does not protect
against powerful water jets at close range
that's covered by the IP69K rating.
Furthermore, IP68 devices may not be resistant to oil,
or extreme weather conditions, and high voltage.
These are all other types of tests
within the IP code system.
Now, other ways to protect your device
include insurance, and I recommend third-party.
You know, if you go with your telecom provider
they're gonna charge you a lot.
Look for third-party, or possibly use homeowner's insurance,
or what have you also, anti-malware programs,
encryption, locator programs, remote wipe programs
and so on, but this isn't really the physical,
these are getting into the software
so these things are covered in another video.
Okay so there you have it, a protected phone,
IP68 compliant with case and protector.
And, you know, we can't foresee every contingency
but the things I mentioned in this video
give you a good place to start.