Kyocera Corporation introduced late last week the next model in its lineup of washable devices: the Kyocera Rafre. The smartphone is resistant to regular washes with soap and water and will come out only in Japan later in March.
The company is aiming the handset at users whose environment makes them prone to get their hands dirty but still need to use their phones without worrying about keeping them clean.
The Rafre is the second washable smartphone, preceded by Kyocera’s DIGNO Rafre released in December 2015. Both devices have seen limited launches exclusive to the Japanese territory, but maybe the technology will see a wider adoption in the future.
Kyocera Rafre: Specs and Design
Kyocera’s Rafre measures approximately 5.5 inches, and its plastic body resists both soap and water. It will come in three colors: Pale Pink, Clear White, and Light Blue.
The phone sports a 5.0-inch HD TFT LCD, 2GB of RAM, and 16 GB of internal storage expandable with a microSD card up to 200 GB.
No word on processing power or GPU under the hood of the Rafre, but the device will run Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, and it will have a 3,000 mAh battery.
Kyocera Rafre: Features
The primary function of the Kyocera Rafre is its unique set of certifications, which make it almost immune to shock, water, and dust, as well as to foaming hand soap and foaming body soap.
The company mainly emphasizes this distinction between soap types, hinting at users who may want to take a shower with their phones and not just wash it in the sink.
Aside from this, the Rafre has a 13 MP rear camera and a 5 MP front-facing camera. Kyocera has no details yet on video capabilities or HDR support, but consumers do not expect optics to be the focus of the new phone.
A unique feature of the upcoming device is its Smart Sonic Receiver, which transmits sound through the display rather than a speaker hole susceptible to dust and water entries.
The smartphone also comes with a pre-installed cooking app that is responsive to remote hand gestures and a night filter app called Blue Light Cut.
Kyocera Rafre: Price, release date, and availability
Kyocera will launch the new Rafre only in Japan through KDDI Corporation and the Okinawa Cellular Telephone Company at a yet undisclosed price.
Reports suggest that, due to its unique combination of resistant features and mid-range specs, the Kyocera device could sell for an estimated $399 to $499 in local currency.
Source: Kyocera
