Hi All,
I thought everyone would be assisted by this history of S5 'attitude' by Verizon and of my experience with these phones. A bit long, sorry, but I have read other threads about water damage and found nothing like the experience we have had.
My Verizon sales person advised me to get new phones on my family's account with the promotion launched this spring. A good deal and no extended contract or increased monthly costs, so we did it. She knew we were going on a few trips that were water involved and recommended the S5 due to its 'versatile lifestyle' abilities over the M8 I wanted which could not handle water exposure. I was replacing a DNA which was not noted as water resistant, but I had used it many times in the rain and on a rafting trip with no problems, great phone.
We bought three S5's and a Moto X that my daughter fell in love with. NOTE - even though the phones are billed monthly, the sales tax showed up on the next bill, a $350 extra for one month!
We all LOVE this phone! Awesome EQ! Until two weeks later when my display started to twitch and a day later became unresponsive. I drove over to the Verizon store and they took out the battery, reset it and it worked fine again. No explanation as to why it malfunctioned could be given.
The next week we went tubing and everyone used their S5's for pictures on the river. Gel skins and screen protectors for all. They all worked great. That night my phone got VERY hot and the display stopped working again. I took it to the Verizon store nearby and they said it had gotten water under the screen, therefore the heat and touchscreen problem. He showed me the droplets in the camera as well. I mentioned the problem from before and that I had only used it in the rain once, no immersion or splash exposure prior to the tubing. He said that it was not sealed properly at the factory and they replaced it with a refurbished unit under warranty with next day delivery.
The next week my daughters' godmother took them on a cruise and the rest of us went to water parks for the weekend. Confident in all our phones abilities to handle the trip.
Day 1 - had my S5 in my pocket and went into the shallow part of a pool following my son. When I took it out to snap a picture it would not turn on. Went back to my chair and checked it out, back on properly, bottom seal good. Hmmm. Took the back off and there's water in the spaces around the battery. uh oh. Took the old DNA away from my son, (who had received it to play games using wifi only, poor guy.) put the card back in and used it flawlessly the rest of the trip. Later I made sure the phone was together properly, all seals tight and put it into a baggie of water. Took it out and opened it - yep water inside. The seals were bad somewhere.
DAY 2 - Put my wife's S5 in a waterproof double seal phone "bag" to be careful the rest of the trip. Took it out to make a call or two then snapped some pictures while doing so as I was in the pool. It went under a few inches in my hand as I lost balance, dang. Checked it out and no water inside, Whew. Later I kept getting a notice that the headphones were plugged in when they were not. Then it started flickering the app manager continually. Dang Dang. Then, dead phone. Dang Dang Dang. It fired up later but would not charge and the mic no longer functioned. There was also visible corrosion in the headphone jack.
Day 3 - Daughter called me from sisters phone (?) She had dropped her S5 into ankle deep water and it was dead. It was dry inside but she put the parts into bags of rice anyway. (MotoX fine BTW)
Back to Verizon for replacements. I was told that Verizon was not handling S5 water related warantees and I had to speak with SAMSUNG! Big change. Had the sales rep call them with me there. Samsung rep was awful, saying they would probably not cover any of them but I could send them in for their techs to look them over and determine how long they had been 'under water', her words. It would take a few weeks and I would receive no phones to use while under investigation. She was very nasty even though it was a Verizon rep talking to her. Her responses were definitely canned and she had done this before. I mentioned the water baggie test I performed and she immediately said not to bother sending that one as I had voided the warranty by intentionally putting it into water! The Verizon rep requested this be escalated to a senior Samsung manager and they said she would get back with them...
All the store reps were gathered talking about the situation and forming contingencies for the next time one of their clients came in with this problem as they thought Verizon would cover any water damage. That's what they were selling and they were even pulling up Samsung commercials to make sure the water resistant feature was promoted. They found mention in the Samsung guide as well - up to 30 minutes in less than 1 meter of water! They were all very apologetic as I left the store with the dead phones.
I waited a few days and no reply from Samsung so we are now replacing them under insurance and paying deductibles. (MotoX and DNA still fine...)
Simply FYI.
-OZ
. S5 is not water resistant, not more than any other phone out there.
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