Took my S7 to the beach

[SebsMech89]

So, here’s an interesting “experiment” you may be interested in…

A couple of days ago I went to the beach, and curiosity (killed the cat?) took over, so I was forced to shoot a video and a couple of pics underwater with my Galaxy S7. Here’s my impressions:

Not ony the screen doesn’t work when wet (duh…), but, when immersed in salty water, it just goes crazy: the video stops, it opens random things and locks down. I’m sure that’s because the conductivity of salty water that messes with the screen. This doesn’t happen at the pool.
If you configure the volume rockers as a shooter, you may be able to take a few pics before the screen looses it.

After a couple of minutes, realizing that the phone wasn’t enjoying the sea as much as I was, took it out, rinsed it with fresh water and saw that LTE indicator was gone, so just turned it off and let it dry in my bag. About twenty minutes later, turned it on and noticed that the home and lock buttons were not responsive, even if they worked just fine before turning it off. Imagine the ‘I told you so’ look in my gilfriend’s face… The fingerprint scanner worked fine, and the lock button started to work a couple of minutes later.

Finally, after rinsing it with fresh water at a sink, the main button started to work perfectly, just like before, so I’m assuming that it was a salt buildup behind it that kept it from working properly.

The only thing that’s bothering me now is that the speaker (the “ear” one) sounds like a vintage record, but I think it’s because there is still some salt build up on the membrane. I’ll rinse it again tonight and see what happens.

So, in conclusion, not a good idea to take a phone to the sea…

 

[Almeuit]

It does state it shouldn't be put in salt water in the manual. It is built for regular water resistance only.

 

[Aquila]

Rinsing it off is also probably using running water, which is at pressure and at speed which changes the factors of the resistance rating.

 

[aokusman]

Manual says don't put in salt water and you did and complain about it.

 

[MaxPower203]

I don't see this as a complaint so much as a report on what happens in case you were curious like he was.

 

[joshwilks]

Wow, you're braver than I am!! Rinse it off, put it in rice and hope for the best. Good luck.

 

[H2oflyer]

IP68 allows for water impact from different directions. Rinsing under low pressure tap is good. The speaker grill has a fabric membrane to allow air passage for sound and pressure equalization, but stops water.

Soak your phone in clean fresh water in a shallow dish to dissolve any left over salt crystals or soften mud residue, then rinse under tap.

 

[SebsMech89]

I don't see this as a complaint so much as a report on what happens in case you were curious like he was.

Exactly, man who's name I'd love to touch. To be honest, I thought it was not recommended to immerse the phone in salty water because it deteriorates the rubber seals (that it does), but I wasn't counting on the salt buildup and whatever happened to the buttons

 

[anon(5630457)]

IP68 allows for water impact from different directions. Rinsing under low pressure tap is good. The speaker grill has a fabric membrane to allow air passage for sound and pressure equalization, but stops water.

Soak your phone in clean fresh water in a shallow dish to dissolve any left over salt crystals or soften mud residue, then rinse under tap.

IPX8 doesn't mean it can be sprayed under jets. If it did, it'd also have an IPX5 or IPX6 rating along with the IP68 rating.

 

[Matty]

I don't think I will ever get the stage when someone says to me 'I rinsed my phone under the tap' and I'm not shocked lol.

It still seems like a terrible idea to put your phone in water but with IP68 ratings these days. It's going to become normal eventually.

Glad to hear your phone is still working fine!

A droid a day keeps the Apple away

 

[filanto]

So, here’s an interesting “experiment” you may be interested in…

A couple of days ago I went to the beach, and curiosity (killed the cat?) took over, so I was forced to shoot a video and a couple of pics underwater with my Galaxy S7. Here’s my impressions:

Not ony the screen doesn’t work when wet (duh…), but, when immersed in salty water, it just goes crazy: the video stops, it opens random things and locks down. I’m sure that’s because the conductivity of salty water that messes with the screen. This doesn’t happen at the pool.
If you configure the volume rockers as a shooter, you may be able to take a few pics before the screen looses it.

After a couple of minutes, realizing that the phone wasn’t enjoying the sea as much as I was, took it out, rinsed it with fresh water and saw that LTE indicator was gone, so just turned it off and let it dry in my bag. About twenty minutes later, turned it on and noticed that the home and lock buttons were not responsive, even if they worked just fine before turning it off. Imagine the ‘I told you so’ look in my gilfriend’s face… The fingerprint scanner worked fine, and the lock button started to work a couple of minutes later.

Finally, after rinsing it with fresh water at a sink, the main button started to work perfectly, just like before, so I’m assuming that it was a salt buildup behind it that kept it from working properly.

The only thing that’s bothering me now is that the speaker (the “ear” one) sounds like a vintage record, but I think it’s because there is still some salt build up on the membrane. I’ll rinse it again tonight and see what happens.

So, in conclusion, not a good idea to take a phone to the sea…

Get the Lifeproof case

 

[H2oflyer]

IPX8 doesn't mean it can be sprayed under jets. If it did, it'd also have an IPX5 or IPX6 rating along with the IP68 rating.

Yes, understand IP ratings are not cumulative. But my point in saying IP68 can handle low pressure force is based on the fact that immersion in 1.5 m of water produces static pressure on the seals higher than a low pressure ( partial flow kitchen tap).

Moving the phone rapidly while in your hand in 6 in of water at the beach could produce pressures higher than IP68 and water getting past the seals. And this isn't considered a jet.

Point here is anyone using a IP68 phone in water has to understand how water pressure affects the seals and use a bit of common sense.

I have used Xperia Z2 Z3 Z5 and Galaxy S7 in fresh water lakes and cleaned them under the kitchen tap with never a problem. Simple....don't bend the phone and damage adhesive sealant....keep any opening covers clean of dirt and hair and visualize keeping water pressures low......Enjoy getting your phone wet.

 

[Mr_Spencer]

So, here’s an interesting “experiment” you may be interested in…

A couple of days ago I went to the beach, and curiosity (killed the cat?) took over, so I was forced to shoot a video and a couple of pics underwater with my Galaxy S7. Here’s my impressions:

Not ony the screen doesn’t work when wet (duh…), but, when immersed in salty water, it just goes crazy: the video stops, it opens random things and locks down. I’m sure that’s because the conductivity of salty water that messes with the screen. This doesn’t happen at the pool.
If you configure the volume rockers as a shooter, you may be able to take a few pics before the screen looses it.

After a couple of minutes, realizing that the phone wasn’t enjoying the sea as much as I was, took it out, rinsed it with fresh water and saw that LTE indicator was gone, so just turned it off and let it dry in my bag. About twenty minutes later, turned it on and noticed that the home and lock buttons were not responsive, even if they worked just fine before turning it off. Imagine the ‘I told you so’ look in my gilfriend’s face… The fingerprint scanner worked fine, and the lock button started to work a couple of minutes later.

Finally, after rinsing it with fresh water at a sink, the main button started to work perfectly, just like before, so I’m assuming that it was a salt buildup behind it that kept it from working properly.

The only thing that’s bothering me now is that the speaker (the “ear” one) sounds like a vintage record, but I think it’s because there is still some salt build up on the membrane. I’ll rinse it again tonight and see what happens.

So, in conclusion, not a good idea to take a phone to the sea…

The screen response doesn't have to do with the salt water. I took my phone in the pool over the summer and the same thing happens. The screen becomes completely unresponsive, it stops recording, other things start to open or close as if the screen is responding to the water as a bunch of presses. Makes it kind of pointless to submerge.

 

[H2oflyer]

Don't need the screen to take pictures or shoot video under water. Set up a hard button to snap pictures or start recording video before submerging the phone. It's basically point and shoot.

 

[filanto]

The op should get a gopro for underwater photos

 

[CKwik240]

The screen response doesn't have to do with the salt water. I took my phone in the pool over the summer and the same thing happens. The screen becomes completely unresponsive, it stops recording, other things start to open or close as if the screen is responding to the water as a bunch of presses. Makes it kind of pointless to submerge.

Pure water is not conductive. Salt water and chlorinated water are both conductive because of the ion content. Capacitive screens work off the conductivity in your fingers.