When you buy a smartphone, after the first days of being cautious that even by touching the screen you could scratch it, comes another important worry that renders a $700 handset useless in a few seconds: water. It doesn’t matter how careful you are, accidents can always happen, and a device can be gone thanks to accidents as simple as a glass of water slipping from the hand. Some manufacturers have been doing a great job in making their smartphones water-resistant, and Samsung pleased a number of potential buyers by adding an IP68 certification to the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, meaning it can withstand some water and dust. Making a smartphone to resist water is not an easy task and if you are curious about how Samsung accomplished this, YouTuber JerryRigEverything has decided to show how the South Korean manufacturer made the Galaxy S7 water resistant.
The raw protection comes from the glass panels on the front and back of the phone. However, there are other holes to seal off, such as microphones, headphone jack, buttons and, obviously, the USB port and SIM tray. The buttons are easier to keep the water off and Samsung simply put a rubber sealing around them. As for the charging port, the inner part won’t let water pass through, and if it detects that this part is wet, the phone won’t charge. Around the connectors, there is also the rubberized sealing glue. Headphone jack and SIM card tray follow a similar principle. As for the speakers, they need air to function, as the sound to propagate needs a medium, and the way Samsung managed to deal with it is very interesting: there’s a small screen in front of the speaker that allows air to get in, but water stays out due to its surface tension, and you can see it better in the video.
It is important to know the difference between waterproof and water-resistance. The former means you can drop something in the water and it won’t get damaged, while the latter means it can resist some water to a certain limit. According to Samsung, you can immerse the Galaxy S7 in depths of up to 1.5 meters, or 5 feet, and beyond that the water pressure will be greater than the sealing and water will get in. That said, if you are interested in buying a Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge, make sure to watch the video below.