I noticed that Liquipel is copping a whipping across the social sphere after Choice gave it a serve in its annual Shonky awards. So I thought I better post a follow up to our coverage earlier in the year. We tried out a handset that had been protected with Liquipel technology on The Today Show. I had first seen the technology demoed at CES earlier in the year and was glad to see it launching locally, as my first impressions were positive. I had seen an iPhone dunked in water right infront of me, and then removed from the water – all the while the power remained on and the handset did not miss a beat. I wanted to show this to viewers live on national TV. As an owner of many phones, and some of which have been submerged in water, this looked like a winning solution to water damage on your phone.
For the Today Show test we were supplied with a GalaxyS III handset by the company supplying the Australian market with Liquipel. Their PR team asked my producer if we could do the test pre-recorded. We declined and did it live (Watch the SEGMENT here). We took the phone and with the power on and a video running, and dunked it in the water. It powered off. I then removed it from the water and booted the phone up and away it went, it worked!!
However, watch the segment to the end. You will notice that Ben Fordham places the handset back in the water at the segments conclusion. This time it was submerged for almost a minute. It was at the beginning of this point where the phone powered off for a second time.
This was the last time the handset powered up! A $900 smart phone and it no longer worked.
We sent it back to the Samsung service and repair team to ‘take a look’ inside, and a week ago they confirmed – ‘it’s fried’. We made sure they took the handset apart and looked over the entire handset to make sure it was not just one small part that could easily and cheaply be fixed or replaced. They confirmed it was way beyond being used for anything that resembles a phone.
I have had phones that have been immersed in water and I have brought them back to life by enclosing them in a plastic container with gel tabs inside to suck out the moisture in the air. It works a treat, but months for the process to work. Also, two out of three phones I have tried this on (yes, I have had three phones go for a swim for more than five seconds fully immersed) have come back from the dead using this technique. As most people don\\\’t have the luxury of placing their phone in a plastic box for weeks, I was hoping for a new solution.
With Liquipel, it looks like it was the second dip that took the phone over the edge. For me, I would get a phone liquipeled again. But my expectation would be to keep the phone safe from splashes and a short time frame under the water. That is it; if Liquipel are promising or leading to their product offering something more, I don’t believe it, not from my experience anyway.
There are other solutions out there that work better that I have also shared. If you are looking for a waterproof solution for your iPad, try this one from Simplism