Samsung is being sued by an Australian watchdog group because, the consumer advocates claim, the phone maker is trying to have it both ways. Samsung advertisements and social media posts show Galaxy phones deep in the ocean and floating in pools, but Samsung warns in the fine print against “beach or pool use,” and won’t cover water damage under its warranty.
Advertisements, IP ratings, and claims of phones being water resistant for X amount of time in Y depth of water are confusing. Some news and review sites make it worse by calling phones “waterproof” when they can’t really be called that (as Sony learned the hard way).
Here’s one simple way to look at it: no phone is really safe if it gets wet.
We take apart and analyze a lot of phones here at iFixit. We’re a common first call when media outlets like CNET, CNBC, or the Wall Street Journal want to explain how phones are made to be water-resistant, or how far a phone-buyer should trust that. But “how” is less helpful than “should,” for most people. Should you assume your IP68 phone will survive a dunk in the pool, the ocean, or (let’s be honest) the toilet? No, you should not.
What makes your phone waterproof is usually glue. Adhesive creates a watertight gasket around the buttons, ports, speakers, and other parts of your phone exposed to water and air. When your phone is brand new and nobody has abused it yet, it actually can survive an immersion in water—maybe up to 8 hours in an aquarium.
But adhesive wears down over time, and is vulnerable to cracks, bends, and exposure to chlorine and other chemicals. “After a year or two, your phone has probably lost a lot of its ability to repel liquids,” said iFixit teardown engineer Jeff Suovanen. Our CEO, Kyle Wiens, was more pessimistic with the Wall Street Journal: “The IP rating they give phones is valid the first day you buy a phone and invalid the day after that.”
Glue isn’t the only way to waterproof, though. Apple, OnePlus, and a few other manufacturers seal the connections on their main logic boards with silicone. And Apple is a leader in waterproofing smartphones without compromising repairability, Suovanen said. Putting the phone’s sensitive bits inside a chassis, screwing the display over top of that, and then sandwiching a gasket in the middle of those two makes it easier to disassemble and reassemble, without having to meticulously re-glue everything. Apple has even occasionally put some liquid-proof rainbow finish on iPhone components (as Wiens alludes to in an MSNBC segment), without advertising it, but that’s a matter for another, future post.
The same goes for the waterproofing: it works in a perfect state, right out of the box, but non-distilled water, beer, coffee, Frank’s Red Hot, chlorine, gravity, your pocket debris—everything breaks down your phone’s perfect seals over time. Even if compromised gaskets let in only a tiny bit of liquid, you’re not safe. Water damage to phones is not a matter of how much, but which components react to which minerals. It’s not the water that kills your phone, it’s the corrosion.
You do have some protection options, if you know ahead of time that your phone stands a chance of getting wet. LifeProof’s Fre cases are well-regarded for water protection, if you install them correctly. Bag containers like the MPow let you protect your phone while providing basic screen access. If you didn’t plan ahead and the worst does happen, turn off your device immediately, open it up for drying immediately, and don’t use rice.
So next time you see a phone pictured on the sand, near a pool, or surviving an entire Corona or Venti Medium Roast spill, remember: a phone is only waterproof until it is tragically not.
13 Commenti
I’ve always made it simple for people; If sound can get out, water can get in. That's why lifeproof cases muffle the !&&* out of your phone in many cases. It might not be 100% accurate to say but it really drives the point home in a concise manner.
Dave Davidson - Replica
There are waterproof mesh holes, but most water damage is due to degraded adhesive or rubber gasket somewhere else, not the mesh itself.
Tom Chai -
Hence why I mentioned it’s not an accurate statement. It just helps the average layman come to terms with the fact that they fell for marketing.
Dave Davidson -
Always do a pressure test before contacting water. Most “water resistant” phones have a baro sensor in the casing and a baro vent around somewhere. Download an app that display raw sensor data, squeeze the phone hard, then seal the baro vent and release the squeeze, see if the pressure reading drops and holds. If it doesn’t hold before you remove the seal to the baro vent, there is a leak somewhere around the case.
Tom Chai - Replica
I wanted to comment on this because people are complete idiots. No phone company had ever stated that their phone is “waterproof.” Water-resistant? Yes. You can get it wet, you can submerge it for a certain amount of time, but water is water, specifically salt water from the ocean, which is horrendous for your phone.
ItsJake - Replica
Actually the whole “not water proof but water resistant” stupidity was started by Apple Genius to weasel away from angry customers. The phone is designed to be sealed and tested during design verification to obtain IPX7/X8 rating, it SHOULD be able to handle water like a properly rated device. If the devices sustained normal wear and tear, fine, it can be no longer IP passed and be damaged by water, but there are customers with ALMOST NEW devices and still got water damage with very little superficial water contact, this is an angle worth investigating.
Tom Chai -
Clearly you didn’t read the story. In the second paragraph you’ll find a link to an article about Sony being sued for claiming their phones were waterproof.
Darren Collins -
You can make a statement with words and you can make a statement with images. Samsung has done the latter as shown at the start of this article.
Dave Davidson -
No one has mentioned the CAT S48c; manufactured by Bullit.
Advertised, and claims to be Water PROOF up to 7’.. &, even comes standard with an 'under-water' Camera Mode.
I have this phone, and it's downside, is that it must be Fed-x'd to Texas, for Any Repairs; (if you wish to maintain your Warrenty).
Just, saying..
jlewiscsi -
I have an iPhone XR. It’s fallen into a clean toilet twice and been immersed for 2-5 seconds without any problem but it’s only 3 months old. I was scared sh*tless because it’s a very expensive phone but it continues working just fine, knock on wood.
djbaldwin - Replica
About a year ago my wife went to the toilet with her iPhone 5S in her back pocket. She finished her pee, flushed and left the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later she was looking for her phone and retraced her steps. She found it and was very unhappy as was I. So, I wrapped it in a layer of tissue, placed it in a container of rice (so the powder wouldn’t get inside), and left it there for three days. Strangely it has worked perfectly ever since. Much later there was an issue with the lightning port not allowing it to recharge. I took it to the Apple store and the ‘genius’ said it was ‘toast’. I then went to fixit, ordered a new lightning port (with audio jack, etc.) and replaced it. Again, the phone is working fine a month later and my wife is happy. Thanks ifixit.
Ron Hall - Replica
Two years ago I got into a natural hot spring in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. I forgot I had my Galaxy S7 Edge in the pocket of my shorts. I was up to my chest literally in hot water. I was in that pool of hot water for a full ten minutes with that phone in my pocket. I sprang out of the pool and to my amazement it was working almost fine. The speaker was obviously compromised and I suppose the microphone was too.
Out of a sense of alarm and precaution I turned it off . When I got got to my room I took my wife’s hair dryer and dried it off as best I could. I left it off overnight and did not try to recharge it. The next morning I turned it on and all was find and it is still fine to this day.
howard - Replica
While visiting the ocean a couple years ago my daughter dropped her iPhone 8 in 2 feat of water and pulled it out in less than 10 seconds. Not good.
We tried drying it off but it would never boot up again. When we returned home we went to the Apple store for help and after then opened it said their sensors show water intrusion so it won’t be supported by the warranty (phone was 4 months old).
I then got into a debate about the phone having an advertised rating of IP67 and it went back and forth until eventually they replaced the phone for free under warranty. I just kept repeating over and over what IP67 means and also speaking a little louder each time. I am sure to those who are not technical couldn’t make the argument I was making and manufacturers will take advantage of that.
Moral of the story, sometimes they will do the right thing but your mileage may vary…
Tom Seagrove - Replica