What to do if your phone falls into water?

If you've been careless, or you've only been able to silently watch your phone fall into a swimming pool, sink, or shell in the slow motion video of unfortunate coincidences, you've immediately asked yourself, "is this the end of my sinfully expensive Galaxy S24 Ultra?

It is not necessary, especially if you react correctly. As I said, put the rice back in the cupboard. We are aware that over the years, rice has become the alpha and omega when it comes to repairing broken phones, but more there is evidence that the rice actually has no effect and that the phone was simply lucky that the corrosion did not attack the key components (chip, battery, screen…¦).

Instead of rice, we will use proven methods and, above all, maintain calm blood. In a panic, we can only further damage our device. So before you start, take a deep breath, put this article in front of you and follow the instructions.

Do not turn it on!

The first step is to leave your phone turned off, or turn it off if it survived the submersion with it turned on. Ignore the urge to make sure the phone is working. If you turn on the phone, you can only further damage the sensitive circuits with the electric current. Do not under any circumstances start charging the phone, either wired or via a wireless station.

The best thing we can do in this case is to dry the phone. Since today's phones are not that susceptible to being opened, the most the average user can do is open the SIM card slot and leave the phone in the air. How much time? ÄŒim longer, but at least 24 hours. It would be best if you could remove the back cover, disconnect the battery and clean the components with at least 90-% alcohol. This is the only way to prevent corrosion from destroying the main components.

But we understand that this is not something that everyone would dare to do. In the case of phones that have a certain waterproof rating (IP68, IP67 …), access to the components is even more difficult. When you remove the spine cover, you will immediately notice the seals that may need to be replaced.

You may be wondering if this is even necessary for “waterproof” phones. Different IP ratings mean that the phone is resistant to water damage up to a certain depth and time, for example one and a half meters for 30 minutes. The seals that ensure this resistance, however, deteriorate with use and over the years. For example, if you own an IP68-rated Galaxy S21 Ultra, those seals may have weakened over the past three years of use to the point that water can cause the same damage as a phone without it. evaluations.

While opening the phone, removing the SIM and microSD card, be careful not to shake the phone unnecessarily. Vibrations and tilts could spread water to other, undamaged areas.

ÄŒes you must not do yet?

• Do not push handkerchiefs, towels, earplugs, tea towels into the USB port or other openings.
• We encountered cases where users wanted to dry the phone with a hair dryer. Don't ever do that.

That being said, the best thing you can do is turn the phone off, let it air dry, or help it by opening it, cleaning your eyes with a suitable alcohol solution and waiting for enough time. , that the phone is completely dry. Only then turn it on, keep your fingers crossed that everything is fine and monitor it for any errors.

It is even better to immediately take the phone to the nearest service center, where with overclocked phones they have much more. experiences. They will immediately notice if corrosion has done permanent damage to the battery, chip or motherboard. In this case, the only solution is to replace the components, but it will probably make more financial sense to buy a new phone.

Actually, I would recommend a visit to the service in the first place to anyone who is not ready to open the phone.

Only rare phones and tablets today have the option of easy opening. In the last čas we tested only one device – Galaxy Tab Active5 – which enabled us to open it like in the old days and easily remove the battery. Everywhere else, the process is more difficult, but not impossible.

How can you check that everything is in perfect order with the phone?

Just as we can run software for testing components (processor, graphics card, SSD drive …) on a computer, we can do the same on a phone, sometimes even with the same applications.

Why would you even want to do that? These kinds of tests (English benchmarks) put the main components in front of their worst challenge. In this way, you can monitor how they behave under the worst loads and maybe discover some kind of flaw.

You can use Geekbench 6, 3DMark and PCMark to test the processor. 3DMark has an additional tool for the worst stress tests (Wild Life Extreme Stress Test), where you are most likely to notice if the phone overheats alarmingly after being submerged in water, or if it doesn't even pass the test that other phones pass easily.

You can monitor the health of the battery using the AccuBattery app and similar ones found in the Google Store. It is important to discharge and charge the phone at least a few times so that the program can show you the most realistic state of the battery.

You can test the drive with the AnTuTu application, which can also be used to test the general performance of the phone. It is not available on the Google Store, so you will have to download it from their official website.

Xiaomi phones provide access to a special CIT system (four-click the kernel version in settings), where you can test every single component, from the vibration motor, screen to speakers and fingerprint. For other developers, we do not have information on whether they enable something similar, or we ourselves did not notice such systems during testing.

Cover photo: Image by freepik