SAMSUNG’S LATEST SMARTPHONES like the S7 and S7 Edge are marketed as water-resistant, but its active counterpart might not meet the same standards.
The Galaxy S7 Active is being sold in the US and is marketed as a rugged device capable of surviving falls and immersion in water. However, product-review site Consumer Reports tested this claim with two different models and found that both failed.
It tested out the claim by putting an S7 Active devices in a water tank pressurised to 2.12 pounds-per-square-inch, the equivalent of being just under five feet of water, and timed it for 30 minutes.
The first phone saw its screen obscured by green lines and wasn’t responsive, and tiny bubbles were visible in the lenses of the front- and rear-facing cameras.
The second S7 Active screen cycled on and off every few seconds, and both phones were no longer functional. The screens of both phones would light up when plugged in but the displays could not be read.
Like the S7 Active, both the S7 and S7 Edge also have an IP68 rating – which shows that a device can withstand “continuous immersion in water” - both phones passed Consumer Report’s water-resistant tests.
In response to the tests, Samsung said that it had received “very few complaints” about the issue and the failure could have been down to the devices being defective.
“There may be an off-chance that a defective device is not as watertight as it should be,” it said in a statement. It said it was investigating the issue.
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