6-Hour Freeze Challenge: Testing the Water Resistance of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, iPhone 14 Pro Max, and Xiaomi 13 Ultra

In recent years, we are seeing a lot of interesting tests being performed on smartphones. Even though some of these tests may be quite weird, they are actually good for the consumers. Truth is, we cannot fully trust all the features that manufacturers advertise to us. As a tech news editor, I have come across a lot of instances where users trusted certain features and ended up damaging their devices. A very good example of such occurrence has to do with water resistance.

A lot of consumers have mistakenly damaged their smartwatches and smartphones just because they trusted manufacturers too much. Almost all flagship smartphones have some level of water resistance in them. However, damages caused by water do not fall under warranty. This means that, if your IP68 rated device is damaged by liquid, you will have to bear the repair cost.

For this reason, most users who have experienced liquid damaged devices have lost trust in IP68 rated devices. But all hope is not lost yet as things have really improved in recent years. A YouTuber named TechDroider has recently pushed three flagship smartphones to the core when it comes to their resistance to liquid.

In a supposed long video that was summarized under 3 minutes, TechDroider performed an extreme 6 hours freeze test on three flagship devices. These devices include the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, iPhone 14 Pro Max and Xiaomi 13 Ultra.

Galaxy S23 Ultra, iPhone 14 Pro Max and Xiaomi 13 Ultra Water Freeze Test: The Test Procedure

To make this test more challenging for the smartphones, he used a sparkling water rather than ordinary water. Sparkling water is just like a normal water, but it is infused with Carbon dioxide under high pressure. This makes it a bit more acidic than normal water. He also tested certain important features of the phones to make sure they are all working fine. He tested the speakers, cameras and fingerprint scanners. Now the main procedure.

• All three phones are placed side-by-side in one rectangular plastic bowl.
• He pours the sparkling water on the phones in the bowl to make sure that they are all submerged under the water.
• The phones are then placed in a deep freezer and allowed to stay in there for six (6) hours to give the water enough time to freeze.
• After six hours, the frozen content is brought out.
• He opens warm tap water on the devices to melt out the ice from them.

Outcome of the Water Freeze Test

After all the three phones have undergone this extreme test, it is now time to check which of them were able to pass the test. Note that, the phone’s ability to stay alive throughout the test does not necessarily mean it passed the test. All other parts of the phone should work fine, just like they were before the test. Hence, TechDroider tested cameras, speakers and fingerprint sensors again after the test. So, which of them passed this test? Let’s find out one after the other.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Water Freeze Test

First of all, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra passed the first stage of the test which is staying alive. The YouTuber then went ahead to test the camera next. The camera was also working fine with no issue at all. Other features like the under-display fingerprint sensor as well as the loudspeaker were all working fine. The S23 Ultra also gave a warning on the display prompting that there was liquid in the charging port. It advised the user to wait for the charging port to dry up before inserting a charger. In all, the Galaxy S23 Ultra passed this water freeze test easily without any problem.

iPhone 14 Pro Max Water Freeze Test

The iPhone 14 Pro Max also passed the first stage of the test. It stayed alive throughout the whole freezing period. Next, the camera was also working fine without any issue. Other features like FaceID, Dynamic Island and loudspeakers were all in perfect working condition. The iPhone 13 had a little problem with the speakers when it went through the same test last year. Apple seems to have worked on this issue in the iPhone 14 series. This concludes that the iPhone 14 Pro Max also passed the water freeze test without any detected problem.

Xiaomi 13 Ultra Water Freeze Test

Xiaomi has also done a wonderful job with the 13 Ultra. This device stayed alive throughout this tough moment as well. Features like loudspeaker, camera and under display fingerprint scanner were all intact. One thing I notice however is that, both the Xiaomi and the iPhone did not prompt the user not to charge the device immediately. Hopefully, both companies will work on this via software update or in their next releases.

Conclusion

This clearly shows how far most smartphone manufacturers have come with their devices when it comes to keeping liquid out. Even under the most extreme conditions, all the smartphones were able to survive without losing hold of any feature. However, it is worth noting that this test was performed mainly to check whether water resistance really work in these devices. It is not advisable to try it at home.

Also, a liquid inside a phone can take two to three days to cause any serious damage to the phone. Therefore, the fact that they are all working now does not really guarantee that nothing bad won’t happen in some few days. The bottom line is that, trying this on your device can end up damaging your device. When this happens, neither Gizchina nor TechDroider would be held responsible for any damage caused to your smartphone.