Mobile phone manufacturers are advertising certain models as water proof and capable of being submerged, but what if the phone fails to resist water? Nothing can be done as they are usually not covered under warranty. Manufacturers like Sony and Samsung which have water resistant offerings like Galaxy S4 Active and Xperia Z series, but if anything goes wrong and the Liquid Damage Indicators inside the phone turn red meaning water got in, you are out of luck.
Recently when Edward Baig of USA Today tested the phone underwater, the display stopped working because of water ingress. The test was carried out within Samsung’s advertised conditions but failed to resist water.Now Samsung and AT&T has started offering one-time exchange for waterlogged Galaxy S4 Active smartphones, even when the the phone has signs of liquid damage.
“Samsung designed and tested the Galaxy S 4 Active to adhere to IP67 standards for water resistance (1 meter for 30 minutes). If your Galaxy S 4 Active has been damaged due to water exposure, bring it back to an AT&T retail store as soon as possible for a one-time exchange for another Galaxy S 4 Active.”-Samsung
This is a much needed move and we hope that Samsung and other manufacturers like Sony revise their warranty conditions internationally for smartphones advertised as waterproof. There can be many cases when smartphones fail to resist water out of the box and customers end up with a dead phone without any warranty support. In our review also, the highly touted underwater shooter Xperia ZR failed water resistant test out of the box.