Mobile Electronics

Other mobile electronics, like tablets and wearables, are gaining in popularity. Fast-forward five years, and smartwatches might be as popular — and as essential to day-to-day living — as smartphones are today.

To make sure consumers can keep depending on their mobile electronics, the devices need protection. That’s what Gore provides.

Today’s smartphone users want their devices to be seemingly waterproof — that is, water-repellant enough to keep their devices safe when they’re accidentally dropped in water.

Gore helps manufacturers meet this demand by making vents that reliably protect mobile devices from liquids, dirt and dust. Consisting of housing, a substrate and a thin ePTFE membrane layer, our vents provide a reliable protective barrier to water and other types of particles.

Our vents, like GORE® Acoustic Vent GAW333, enable mobile electronics manufacturers to achieve an IP68 rating, currently achieved by some of today’s most popular smartphones. This rating means the device can be submerged in 1.5 metres of water for up to 30 minutes. In fact, GORE® Acoustic Vent GAW333 has an immersion rating of IPX8, achieved at two metres of immersion for one hour, and a dust-proof rating of IP6X.

Despite our vents’ protective barrier, sounds like voices and music can pass through unencumbered. When designing vents, manufacturers have to consider both protection and sound quality; they may need to compromise one to bolster the other. Gore provides the best combination in the mobile electronics industry, offering superior protection without compromising sound quality, and vice versa.

Unlike many vent providers, we don’t just hand over a membrane; we consult with our customers. What’s the optimal size and shape of a vent? Or the optimal distance between our vent and the speaker or microphone? These are the questions we ask to ensure electronics manufacturers deliver the best device protection and sound quality possible.

As voice recognition becomes more prevalent in mobile electronics, as HD voice recognition grows in importance, and as consumers continue to expect their mobile devices to be nearly waterproof, more electronics will require high-fidelity audio and high-quality venting solutions, like those provided by Gore.

The mobile electronics industry has a short product life cycle. Gore supports this need for quickness with a fast-response design process. We have the ability to build prototypes, test them, and release products in just a few months. After release, we support our customers with a team of experts in acoustics, mechanics and production. 

Gore first entered the mobile electronics industry with solutions for two-way radios. In mission-critical military and first-responder operations, our acoustic vents protect the radios from dirt, dust and liquids; equalise pressure when materials inside the radios outgas; and ensure high-quality acoustics.

A few years later, we became a pioneer in providing the acoustic and pressure vents for smartphones we’re now known for globally.

Now, while continuing to provide solutions for two-way radios and smartphones — along with headsets, cameras, handheld computer scanners and other mobile devices — we’ve lent our materials expertise to a new market: wearables. 

As the wearables market grows, we continually innovate with our vents, ensuring that people communicating by watch, earpiece or other wearable technology can get their messages across, loud and clear.