This reminds me of the day I dropped my new HTC One M8 into water. I grabbed it out within a second. The screen was still on and seemed functional, but rather quickly it started behaving erratically. The little motor that handles vibrate was constantly running. The device was getting hot. I couldn't power it off. The battery couldn't be removed. In fact, the entire case was sealed shut so I couldn't even expose the internals to dry them out more quickly. I basically had to sit and watch as it buzzed away and finally died. I swore I would never again buy a phone that couldn't be opened up.
My next phone was the Fairphone 2. I replaced the battery a few times over it's lifetime and upgraded the camera. I bought the Fairphone 3 as soon as it came out (and I'm still using it happily). My wife switched to the FP3 shortly afterwards. We both bought the camera upgrade and spare battery.
I think phones can be both waterproof and modular. Going by [1], waterproof gaskets usually come from either glue or silicone. Glue obviously inhibits modularity, but silicone gaskets work fine.
The Galaxy S5 is waterproof, has a rubber gasket over the charging port and a removable battery but not "significantly bulkier" compared to all of the current crop of mid-range/flagship phones - it's actually lighter than the glass-backed ones
Sure, but the reason they're nice to have for that one time that an accident occurs, whether a drink is spilled or you drop it in the sink or whatever.
That's just splash damage, which doesn't really equal waterproofing. There are different IP ratings for the two. Splash damage resistance is significantly cheaper and you'll find plenty of models that don't claim to be waterproof, but are still splash resistant. In other words, IP52/IP53/IP54 instead of IP63/IP64: https://www.dsmt.com/resources/ip-rating-chart/
I think Fairphone goes too far towards maintainability at the expense of other aspects. I don’t get a lot more value in being able to replace the camera in 10s compared to 20 minutes.
My next phone was the Fairphone 2. I replaced the battery a few times over it's lifetime and upgraded the camera. I bought the Fairphone 3 as soon as it came out (and I'm still using it happily). My wife switched to the FP3 shortly afterwards. We both bought the camera upgrade and spare battery.