Water resistant mobile

Thomas_Holding

How water resistant are modern mobiles? Are they all similar quality or are any a lot better?

Can many/any take going in water?

teaselMay

Generally reasonably water resistant. They should have an ingress protection (IP) rating. I usually buy the cheapish phones sold as rugged 'builder's' phones which are waterproof and have a cover on the power socket.

My top tip is not to plug your sopping wet water resistant phone in to charge whilst you're cold and tired and starving and not thinking straight. I did exactly that after it had been in the sea with me. Salt water and power makes things sizzle, that was an iphone I think and didn't have a covered power socket, always rinse in non salt water and let it dry if it's been in the sea

Woodstok2000

I've used my galaxy s25 to take underwater pictures fairly regularly. No deeper than 1m, and you need to dry the charging port afterwards but its never caused any issues.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6680545/water-resistant-mobile

Look at the IP rating, the first number represents how resistent it is to things like dust and sand, the second is how resistant it is to water on a sale of 0-9 with the higher the better.

At level 7 its good to water depth of 1m for 30 minutes. Be a little careful with ratings though as the real limit is pressure not depth so if someone says its good to 10m thats 10m and it being stationary, if you are swinging it around (ie swimming with it in your hand) the pressure will be higher.

Secondly, the IP rating is when it was manufactured, seals can become less efficient as they age particularly so if screens have been replaced etc but the seals werent. Latest iphone is IP 68 so is good at 6m for 30 minutes but probably best being sub 1m if swimming etc.

Have taken underwater photos using an iPhone 15 main problem is touch screen doesnt work well underwater and personally didnt want to be using physical buttons when submerged

Slinky

Didn't even know you could put an iphone in water?

My old iphone 5 I couldn't get a new battery installed in the apple store as they said it had been in water (dropped accidentally a few weeks earlier but still working fine) and they shafted me for a new phone. I assumed this was still the same and was mightily relieved when I dropped my iphone 12 in a stream for about 3 seconds and it still worked.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82110580#Comment_82110580

The older phones had a Liquid Contact Indicator thing inside the headphone jack, it was supposed to detect if it had ever been submerged however it could also be triggered by being in a very humid place for an extended time… the higher the humidity the quicker it would turn. So those who bring their phone into the shower room but not the shower could find it reads that it had been submerged… a friend, who will self admit to being a very sweaty guy, found just carrying it inside his biker leathers for a year was enought to do it.

When they got rid of the headphone jack it moved into the sim slot.

Apple still wont cover liquid damage but its a causal exclusion, not blanket so if its broken for a reason other than liquid damage the fact the LCI is trggered is irrelevant. Of cause if you come in and say the speakers stopped working and the LCI has been triggered they may add two and two and get 42 saying its liquid damage but that hasnt been my experience.

My phone is well out of warranty so its a non-issue if the LCI is triggered or not

Slinky

In our previous home we bought a Vodafone range extender device as we were having trouble getting a signal. The darned thing was faulty and we could not get it set up properly, despite me bringing in our paid computer expert. We ended up having to send it back for a refund……. guess what, they struggled to understand what it was we were returning when we called up to send it back, and finally said it was water damaged…….. had an almighty fight to be refunded, which in the end they did as a credit on our phone account as a 'goodwill' gesture. As soon as that got used up, we ditched Vodafone and will never go back to them.

finbaar

I used a Samsung Galaxy S9+ to take pictures in a swimming pool in 2018 and everything was good. However I had a battery replaced in a Pixel 8 Pro - high street shop - and although the battery was good the waterproofing wasn't and it failed after a very quick dunk. I think the moral is yes you can get phones wet but maybe still be careful.

twopenny

You can get waterproof bags for them and operate the phone through the bag with some.

Always test the bag first. Put a tissue in it, seal and submerge in a bowl of water for a while. If the tissue is still dry it's good to go.

Works for sand too which people often forget.

Thomas_Holding

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82113220#Comment_82113220

Thanks for that - any bags that you recommend?

RumRat

I've used the overboard one without any problems.

https://www.over-board.co.uk/collections/waterproof-cases

Loads of cheap ones on Amazon….Depends on what you are going to be doing. If it's any kind of water sport I'd always recommend ones like Overboard or Dry Bags https://www.drybags.co.uk/collections/phone-cases ,