This Smartphone Can Be Washed With Soap and Water

Water and electronic devices have never gotten along, but bacteria and your smartphone are, unfortunately, the best of friends. There are mobile devices advertised as being waterproof—useful for rainy days and the inevitable toilet drop—but things can get tricky when you want to intentionally give your phone a scrub to make it clean again. Now, Japanese company Kyocera says they've developed a solution to that problem with Digno Rafre, a smartphone that can be washed, from back case to touchscreen, with good, old-fashioned soap and water.

CNET reports that the phone doesn't have speakers and instead relies on a Kyocera development called "connective tissue" to produce sound and keep the device water-tight (technology that the company has utilized for a few years now). The website also notes that Kyocera "has no plans to release the Digno Rafre outside of Japan," so if you live elsewhere and want to get your filthy hands on one, you'll have to make the trip or send $470 to a friend overseas.

Check out the commercial for the device above.