Android Phones Are Surviving Stuff They Really Shouldn’t Right Now

TL;DR

• A Galaxy S23 Ultra spent five hours underwater in a freezing Arctic river and still worked perfectly.
• The phone’s IP68 rating doesn’t cover those conditions, making the survival more surprising.
• It follows a recent story of a Pixel 8 that endured four days in a hot tub and came out unscathed.

Most of us dread dropping our phones in a puddle or the sink, let alone an ice-covered Arctic river. But one Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra just shrugged it off and powered on like nothing happened.

According to Samsung Newsroom, Swedish wilderness guide Mikael Krekula was out on the frozen Kalix River testing sonar gear when his Galaxy S23 Ultra slipped from his glove and dropped into an ice fishing hole. It plunged around three meters into the freezing water and was trapped beneath the ice for the next five hours.

Determined not to give up, Mikael drilled several new holes in the surrounding ice and fashioned a series of tools — including birch branches, a plastic bag, and eventually a summer fishing net tied to a stick — to try and fish it out. After hours of effort, he finally succeeded. To his shock, the phone powered on immediately, displaying a few missed calls as if everything was totally normal.

Mikael Krekula rescued his Galaxy S23 Ultra from the Arctic river after five hours.

The S23 Ultra has an IP68 rating, meaning it’s officially protected against dust and can survive in up to 1.5 meters of freshwater for 30 minutes. But Arctic conditions, a greater depth, and five hours underwater are way beyond what the Galaxy spec sheet promises.

It’s not the only phone that has shaken off the elements recently. Just a couple of weeks ago, a Pixel 8 that spent four days submerged in a hot tub still worked just fine. In both cases, the phones defied their ratings in pretty extreme conditions.

For Mikael, whose phone is a lifeline in the remote Arctic for navigation, translation, and night photography, the whole thing was a wake-up call. He’s now added a fishing net to his winter survival kit.