iPhone 7 Water Resistance And Durability Tests Put Apple’s Flagship Against Samsung Devices

With the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus now on the market, various torture tests have already commenced. The device is being dropped, tossed and bent in many different fashions to determine its resilience.

SquareTrade rates the iPhone 7 with an overall medium breakability score of 5 out of 10 and the iPhone 7 Plus at 6. Performing controlled tests including gripability, weight, water, drops, bends and tunnels. In particular, the devices fared well during water tests, suffering only temporary audio muffling. However, both devices failed face down drops, as many smartphones tend to do.

While SquareTrade did not test the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus directly against its adversary, the Galaxy Note 7, the extended warranty provider did compare the devices to a torture test previously performed on Samsung’s smartphone. Overall the Galaxy Note 7 rated as a similar, medium risk of 6.5. According to SquareTrade breakability chart, a rating of 1 denotes a low risk of damage, while 1 indicates a high risk.

Meanwhile, YouTube channel Everything Apple Pro performed an extreme water test on the iPhone 7 and the Galaxy S7 smartphones, dunking each of the devices in the Columbia River. The test submerged both devices in a canister at depths between five and 35 feet. The Galaxy S7 died completely and would not turn on after being at a 35-feet depth for five minutes.

The recently released iPhone 7 is rated at a water resistance of IP67, making it impervious to damage in up to one meter of water for 30 minutes. The Galaxy S7 is rated IP68, water resistant in up to 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes.

Many devices are known for being able to withstand water far beyond the parameters of their ratings. However, some are skeptical at the validity of the water test. Even so, the depths that both devices were able to withstand were impressive.