Getting a smartphone wet is such a common way of destroying it that even criminals know better than to let the devices get submerged in water.
South Florida's Sun Suntinel recently reported that 24-year-old Tyler Lee Korman, of Boca Raton, was recently accused of stealing phones. In order to escape the police, he jumped into a local canal to swim across it to freedom. However, he quickly ran into problems when he realized that he couldn't swim. Korman was okay in the end and made it back to shore, but he told the police that he got rid of the recently stolen phone before jumping into the canal because he believed the the device would lose value if it got wet and had water damage.
If Korman had not managed to ditch the stolen phone before leaping into the water, the quick dip in the canal could have certainly done some damage… unless it had a particularly resilient waterproof case on it.
The water test
Protective cases have been around for quite some time, and many people use them to give their trusty iPhones a little extra padding should their device suffer a fall. A number of recent technological advances have led to the production of a wide variety of sophisticated cases to choose from. In a recent article for AllThingsD, senior reviewer Bonnie Cha put three waterproof cases to the test.
The three cases that Cha tested were the LifeProof, Otterbox Armor and Dry Case. Cha reported that all three held true to their protective promises and kept her iPhone dry when it was submerged in both a swimming pool and the Pacific Ocean.
Cha explained that the LifeProof case is a great size and is a good solution for an everyday case. The Otterbox Armor case is the most expensive of the three, costing $100, but Cha noted that this could be the best solution for those such as extreme-sports participants or construction workers who put their beloved iPhones through extreme conditions. Finally, Cha revealed that Dry Case is an affordable solution that works with a variety of other devices. However, its design made it somewhat uncomfortable to carry while being particularly active, causing Cha to maintain that it wouldn't be her “go-to solution for underwater adventures.”
While a waterproof case is a good option to protect your favorite device against the elements, they are not foolproof solutions. If your iPhone should suffer liquid damage, don't give up on it and count it as a lost cause. Instead, turn to iResQ's iPhone repair services to quickly get it back to working order.