There are plenty of options for waterproof smartphones these days. Sony has quite a few handsets available, including the recently released (with T-Mobile) Xperia Z1S. There are also others such as the Galaxy S 4 Active. But while some devices are touted as being comfortable in water, there are others that seem to be just as comfortable — despite not being sold as waterproof or water-resistant.
One of these other handsets is the Moto G. To clarify, Motorola doesn’t advertise the Moto G as being water-resistant or fully waterproof, however there was a mention of the handset having a nano-coating. The nano-coating does help to protect against water. But in this case, it seems the handset can actually handle being submerged — for quite some time.
Smartphone reviewer Erica Griffin ended up with a pair of Moto G smartphones and not wanting to part with either, she kept them both and used one to play in the sink. She began with a few smaller time periods. Specifically, a quick 15-second and then a slightly longer 30-second test. Both seemed to be just fine and things were taken to a whole new level of 30 minutes.
At risk of offering a spoiler — the Moto G seems to have come out with little side effect. The video is on the longer side, but certainly worth checking out. Interestingly, there was mention of how the phone felt much heavier after having been soaked in water. It even powered up without issue after sitting overnight.
But while you watch the video and see the testing for yourself, we cannot help but wonder how well the phone will hold up in the coming days and weeks. We should also make this point — while Erica seems to have had positive results — we cannot necessarily suggest you do the same.
VIA: Google+ (Matt Jones)
Erica has great reviews. She tells it like she sees it. I watched this when it was posted. Now that Lenovo owns Motorola it will be interesting to see if the nano coating continues. I could stop using Lifeproof.
Dropped my Moto G gen 1 phone into water yesterday, took it out within a couple of seconds. It seemed ok, but then went into repeated boot loops. Opened it up, no visible water inside (prob because of water repellant treatment). Followed the steps below, and after 24 hrs the boot loops ended and it is now working fine.
Water repellant treatment is applied to most Motorola phones. Even so, small droplets of water sitting on surfaces can cause problems both immediately and longer term (through oxidation). Thorough drying out only possible through evaporation (immersion in rice is pointless with these sealed units, as it’s a contact desiccant which needs contact with water molecules).
So: power off immediately after retrieving from water; remove back to expose as much of the interior as possible; remove SIM card. Then keep the phone in a warm place overnight (eg airing cupboard). Leave for 24 hrs; then attempt re-activation.