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Samsung Galaxy S7 Active Fails Consumer Reports Water-Resistance Test (consumerreports.org)
An anonymous reader writes: The Samsung Galaxy S7 Active is apparently not-so-active. It should be the more durable version of the Galaxy S7 family but apparently it's not. Because of this, Consumer reports is not going to mark it as "Recommended" even though it performed very well in all the other tests it ran. [Jerry Beilinson writes from Consumer Reports:] "Consumer Reports technicians placed a Galaxy S7 Active in a water tank pressurized to 2.12 pounds-per-square-inch, the equivalent of just under five feet of water, and set a timer for 30 minutes. When we removed the phone, the screen was obscured by green lines, and tiny bubbles were visible in the lenses of the front- and rear-facing cameras. The touchscreen wasn't responsive. Following our standard procedure when a sample fails an immersion test, we submitted a second Galaxy S7 Active to the same test. That phone failed as well. After we removed it from the tank, the screen cycled on and off every few seconds, and moisture could be seen in the front and back camera lenses. We also noticed water in the slot holding the SIM card. For a couple of days following the test, the screens of both phones would light up when the phones were plugged in, though the displays could not be read. The phones never returned to functionality." Samsung has said "The Samsung Galaxy S7 active device is one of the most rugged phones to date and is highly resistant to scratches and IP68 certified. There may be an off-chance that a defective device is not as watertight as it should be." Although, given the fact that Consumer Reports tested multiple devices, Samsung could have a widespread issue on their hands. They company said it is investigating the issue.
I haven't seen the spec's but did Samsung claim it can take a soak in 5' of water?
That's what the small text says at the beginning of the commercial. Must be true. Advertising does not lie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5aF23XpBwU
The S5 was advertised as being waterproof as well, and advertisements had people taking selfies underwater. Mine didn't survive a single splash of water that must've gotten it rather wet for several seconds.
I took it to the repair guy (screen needed to be replaced, if I recall). He told me he was repairing the s5 for water damage all the time.
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The use of hygroscopic products to speed up drying is actually based on a misconception, or at least, not as effective as you might think.
The rate of evaporation is proportional to the product D*(p_vp-p_env), where D is the diffusion coefficient of the vapor molecules in air, p_vp the vapor pressure (partial pressure of saturated vapor), and p_env the partial pressure of vapor in the environment.
A desiccant will lower p_env to zero, so it will help a bit; for example, the p difference is (2.4-1.2) kPa at 20 C, 50% relative humidity, increasing to (2.4-0) with a desiccant, a factor 2 increase. However, putting it in a warm place will increase both D (a bit) and p_vp (a lot). Heating it to 50 C in the same environment will increase the p difference to (12.3-1.2), a factor 9 increase. Additionally, D will increase by a factor 1.2. A phone that is switched off should be able to handle such temperatures, so putting it on top of the cable modem is cheaper and more effective.
Even better would be to dry it in vacuum; that will increase the D parameter tremendously. But most people don't have that at home, although I suppose that some creativity with a wine preserver pump might get you somewhere.
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I don't recommend the vacuum pump...
I dropped my phone in a 6' deep evaporative cooler tank and it took 15 minutes to fish it out. I ran up to the lab and took the rotor out of our vacuum concentrator and switched it on. Things looked fine for a couple minutes, but then the back of the phone started swelling and it was the battery bulging... I switched it off and it "deflated." The phone also worked (still using it now, in fact), but the battery life was halved.
It wasn't in there long enough to evaporate all the water, but the back was already partially popped so I took it off and stuck in an incubator at 42C for a day.