During our last snorkeling we tried and tested the DryTide Waterproof Phone Wallet in real life conditions while freediving in the Adriatic sea (otherwise it is pressure tested in a tank in a factory). First we dropped the wallet to a depth of somewhere between 10-15m (this is how deep I can dive so I could pick it up) and not a single drop of water got into the wallet or even past the first zip lock barrier. It looks like the wallet can handle the water pressure really well. It is rated to survive depths of 30m and is seems it could do that without a problem. So if you want your phone to be safe during water activities, put it inside this wallet.
In the second test, we wanted to see how usable the wallet is while you are in the water. On dry land (or in the kayak, boat, on the floatie…) while the phone is in the waterproof bag you can still use it to take photos, use the touch screen through the transparent window on the wallet, press all the buttons, listen to music, use social media, browse and check the weather etc…
Once the bag comes in contact with the water, things get a bit more complicated. When water or water drops put pressure on the screen, the screen detects this as your fingertips and either starts reacting (weirdly) or stops reacting at all. In this case usability depends on a couple of things.
As long as the wallet is wet and full of waterdrops, but not actually under the water surface, you can still use the touch screen if you leave some air inside the bag when closing it. The air will keep the transparent window away from the screen. This way only when you press with your fingertips and make contact with the screen, the screen will react.
Once you go underwater sooner or later the added water pressure will press the transparent window on to the screen making it pretty much unusable. It becomes impossible for the phone screen to recognize what is water pressure and what are your fingers. And since the water pressure covers the whole screen this is pretty much the end of screen usage. This is the case with all the waterproof wallets. Since there is no signal underwater (we checked:) ) the only thing that you could use the phone for is taking photos and videos. Most phones allow you to assign photo functions to you phone volume and power buttons. Since buttons still work normally even deep underwater, this is a workaround solution for your phone underwater photography.Â
Testing the waterproof phone wallet (bag) while freediving.
And on final tip – lots of smartphones have a pocket mode. This mode blocks accidental inputs while the phone is placed in pocket. So you don’t make calls from your pocket while walking around etc… The mode is activated by the proximity sensor that is usually situated near the earpiece. When placing your phone into the waterproof wallet you will therefore sometimes get a warning that you shouldn’t cover the earphone area. You can turn off this feature in the phone settings. Look for something like Lock screen > Prevent accidental wakeup/Pocket detection or something similar.
In the video you can see that testing the waterproof phone wallet was super fun, with warm summer water temperatures and crystal clear water near one of the Adriatic sea islands. Hope you like it.
Pros
- 100% waterproof down to 30m underwater,
- very secure double zip lock closure,
- transparent front and rear window for your screen and camera lenses,
- fits most phone sizes and documents like passports etc…,
- touch screen works while phone is in the bag,
- neck strap,
- very stylish looking bag.
Cons
- Phone is hard to operate when underwater.
