The beach. Water parks. The toilet. These are all places where your beloved iPhone can find itself taking a nasty, warranty-voiding bath. Several items on the market purport to keep your gadgets dry in these situations, but how well do they really work? And do you have to spend a lot to get acceptable water protection?
To find out, we put expensive gadgets into a cheap-o waterproof pouch from Meritline, a slightly less cheap-o DRY-PAK Waterproof Pouch, an OtterBox 2000 Hard Case, and a Ziploc Bag. Then we submerged them in water for varying lengths of time. Each gadget bag took a 10-minute, 30-minute, 1-hour, and overnight dip in our science pool (read: fish tank) to see if they had what it takes to keep the evil water at bay.
So what were our results? Like we'd ever tell you! We'd show you, though! Watch the video for all the answers.
I can tell you from experience that pictures taken through a Ziploc bag or one of the pouch-type cases look like something from a $10 toy camera: smeary, blurry abominations. And if you have to take your phone out of a bag or pouch to take a picture, the chances of it getting wet are a lot greater.
It takes a hard plastic or glass window to get really sharp images. I'm guessing the Otterbox has one. Personally, I use a $30 iContact hard case, and I’ve taken photos and video that look as good as if I'd used no case at all.
Finally, if you're still tempted to go the Ziploc route, remember: those bags are *thin*! The first time you use one, it'll be waterproof. But after your bagged phone has been in and out of your pocket, purse or backpack a few times, that Ziploc bag is going to have folds, wrinkles, and—almost inevitably—micro-leaks.
If you were worried about it falling out of a boat, put one of those stress balls in the bag with it. That should offer enough flotation.
It was a straight-up Ziploc - no double-seal or freezer-safe what-nots!