A few weeks ago, I accidentally swam in the ocean with my Galaxy S24 in my pocket. I dried it in the sun right after and tried to soak up as much water as I could with tissue paper in the openings. Later, I learned that this model has some waterproofing. To be safe, I rinsed it off thoroughly to wash out any salt, but I did this a few hours after it was submerged. Although my phone seems to be working fine now, I'm worried about any salt residue that could be left inside and cause corrosion. How serious is the risk of damage from having salt water in the phone for a few hours?
3 Answers
Waterproof doesn't mean impervious to everything. While your phone is likely safe if it’s still working, saltwater can really mess with electronics. If you didn’t totally dry it out or if salt buildup happened while it was damp, you might want to keep an eye on it for any signs of issues down the line. It might not be catastrophic, but it’s good to be cautious!
Saltwater is more corrosive than regular water. Rinsing it later is better than not rinsing at all, but ideally, you want to flush those ports as soon as possible after exposure. Keep it dry and monitor how it performs, and you should be fine, but it’s always good to be a little paranoid with electronics and salty water.
Most flagship smartphones released in the past five years, including the S24, typically have an IP68 rating, which means they can handle quite a bit of water exposure. Since you rinsed out the phone, you should be in pretty good shape! Just be sure to keep an eye out for any signs of corrosion, especially around the charging port. Salt can be nasty, but it sounds like you took the right steps to mitigate any potential damage.

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