Waterproof/water resistant phones: What do you think?

[RoboMan]

What are your opinions about this kind of phones? Do you believe what they're selling? I personally had one waterproof mobile phone, my Sony Xperia Z3. I got to immerse it into water, taking care of everything, closing jacks and being aware of time, depth, etc. That was only once. After that, i only washed it sometimes with clean cold water. Around the 15th time of doing it, it died. After opening it, it was filled with water. On the Xperia Z3 Facebook Group, lots and lots of people were complaining about it. Same on S5 and by now, i've known people with brand new S7 with this problem.

Now, the real question is: are these phones really waterproof? Are they selling us a 50% / 50% water resistant possibility? Would you immerse your waterproof phone, if you had one? Or would you stick to the "just in case"?

 

[JM Safe]

I would stick to the "just in case". I think this type of phones can resist to the water, but only up to a certain limit. The hardware of this type of phone is really interesting and sophisticated; but I don't think all of this phones could resist underwater (5 metres underwater).

 

[Andytay70]

Waterproof?
I heard that the latest samsung failed an independent test!

Heres the link
'Water-resistant' Samsung Galaxy S7 Active fails test - BBC News

 

[viktik]

companies are abandoning the water resistant coating because it does not work.

Xiaomi founder Lei Jun explains why his company doesn't do waterproof phones

 

[hjlbx]

Good for when you accidentally drop one in the toilet... but don't work so good if you accidentally leave it in your pants pocket and throw the pants in the wash.

 

[SHvFl]

Good for when you accidentally drop one in the toilet... but don't work so good if you accidentally leave it in your pants pocket and throw the pants in the wash.

If i drop it in the toilet it will be the least of my worries. In such case i suggest drying it and then burning it with fire.

The only real use they have for me it's when you drop your drink on them. Now how useful it is depends on the user.

 

[hjlbx]

If i drop it in the toilet it will be the least of my worries. In such case i suggest drying it and then burning it with fire.

I call the plumber... LOL.

 

[RoboMan]

If i drop it in the toilet it will be the least of my worries. In such case i suggest drying it and then burning it with fire.

The only real use they have for me it's when you drop your drink on them. Now how useful it is depends on the user.

Now the fun fact about this is that this kind of phones are resistant to cold fresh water. This means, no chemicals as soaps, no ingredients as sodas, or drinks that aren't fresh water. Anything else may ruin components. Then how useful is it?

 

[Deleted Member 3a5v73x]

My old Sony Ericsson st17i (active) did survive 30min in washing machine at 40c, it still works underwater, even if protect plugs for charger and 3.5mm stereo jack are left open. But i have no experience with newer (water resistant) claimed smartphones.

 

[ElectricSheep]

Water resistancy doesn't neccessarily mean waterproof!
Here's a link that explains it...
Water resistancy explained

 

[ravi prakash saini]

If they start making 100% waterproof phone ,I wonder,what excuse I will have to buy new one

 

[hjlbx]

Now the fun fact about this is that this kind of phones are resistant to cold fresh water. This means, no chemicals as soaps, no ingredients as sodas, or drinks that aren't fresh water. Anything else may ruin components. Then how useful is it?

Not very. Lil' Wayne's commercials pouring champagne over one is a scam !

 

[RoboMan]

Not very. Lil' Wayne's commercials pouring champagne over one is a scam !

Water-based champagne lmao

 

[Vasudev]

My oldest phone, a nokia w/ keypad was soaked in water after my water bottle was leaking in my bag, the moment I discovered I suddenly got a call and even spoke to the person for quite a while. I guess it wasn't even water proof.

 

[Noxx]

Never a problem of destroying my phone with water, it's always either a) leaving it on top of my car and it flying off the side while driving to never be seen from again, or b) dropping it face first on the pavement getting out of my car. Lots of car problems, let's say, lols.

 

[Sven]

I have a Sony Xperia Z5 and it's doing well for now. I don't know how it will be after my 15th meeting with water, but other than that everything is great. I know and I heard that problems with Z3, that is why I have waited and purchased Z5, which is really successful. This success comes from : it has no flaps other than sim/micro sd card slot and still water resistant.

 

[Atlas147]

I think waterproofing on a phone is a must, and as soon as every phone has it we'll start wondering how we ever lived without it. But as of now none of the companies seem to do it right mainly because there are ports of the phone that definitely have to be exposed to the outside like the mic, headphone jack and other buttons, which can never be 100% waterproof as of now. But I honestly think that waterproofing a phone would be the future, no more worrying about rain getting in your phone when you run in the rain, or worry about getting the phone wet when you're at a pool.

 

[Ink]

**Fixed typos, spelling and grammar.**

I would like to see more devices getting the water and dust resistant IP ratings.

Waterproofing is the next step, design and manufacture is needed, especially when there are open ports and speakers.

I own both Z3 and M4 Aqua, but only risk my cheaper M4 under the tap.

"Just because you have an antivirus, doesn't mean you should test it against malware". Nothing is sealed 100% and don't forget human errors.

Fun fact: "The iPhone 6s is the most water resistant iPhone to date, but not waterproof."
Apple researching device waterproofing via vapor deposition, silicone seals

 

[Cats-4_Owners-2]

I've enjoyed reading all of these stories, & the humor so far, incorporated with both the drowned and miraculous cell phones that survived!!!
I've more than a couple of friends, and a sister, whom have lost many a phone to those murky phone sucking porcelain bowls (similar yet opposite to beverages being spilled onto their keyboards!). Of course they blame the stupidity of gravity.
Once upon a time, my brother-in-law visited the Colorado River (in Arizona) and wore extra long shorts in the oven like air with the merciless sun beating down upon his gradually over heating body, and so decided "What the heck?". At the urging of friends, he jumped from the deck of a boat, to his delight, into the icy waters of the of the Colorado! That is, ..until he realized his beloved i-Phone that was nestled "safely" in his deep pockets was as thoroughly wet as he had become! No amount of burying it under rice nor blow-drying it's inner workings could put Humpty-i-Phone back together, & working, again! He has since replaced this long ago lost "favorite phone" with the latest i-Phone recently after becoming a subsequent, & disgruntled (..for many years) user of Samsung's Galaxy line, for the heart wanted what he'd inadvertently left in his shorts. Now, I've the strong sense he may never again experience the thrill of jumping into a river, or swimming pool, while wearing pocketed shorts; nor the carefree abandon of fearlessly letting go into liquid without the pause of once more finding himself i-Phone less again!

 

[Evjl's Rain]

I have a sony z3 too. Moisture (steam from sweat in pocket, not water) started to get in the headphone jack so it has a problem with touchscreen around the area below the jack. The water indicator was still white, no color change + all flaps were closed tightly. It was really hard to use the phone then and I really wanted to throw it away but it spontaneously resolved after 6 months without repairing.

As someone said, these phones may lose their water-resistence capability after a while especially the ones with flaps like sony z3.

IMO, it is a lot more difficult to rescue these phones when water gets in compared to non water-resistence phones cuz moisture cannot evaporate easily. I was using ss galaxy s3 for 3 years w/o any problem but z3 got the problem within just 2 months

z3 has blackglass and now my backglass broke => loses water-resistence for sure

conclusion: no more water-resistence phones for me, higher price, not really useful, fragile (usually have backglass), more expensive to repair, more prone to water damage (user behaviors) as a report said so