Consumer Reports: Galaxy S7 Active Fails Water Test

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Plenty of smartphones are ruined when they fall on the pavement or are dropped in water. Samsung claims its Galaxy S7 Active for AT&T can survive the rough and tumble of life. So, Consumer Reports checked out the $800 phone.

Engineers dropped the phone from five feet onto to a flat surface, according to the phone's specs. The phone did well after droppi¬ng on concrete. The testers did not see any damage.

Samsung also claims the S7 Active is water resistant enough to handle up to five feet of water for 30 minutes. So, Consumer Reports submerged a different S7 Active in a pressurized tank to simulate five feet of water. This time the results weren't good.

The first S7 Active testers dunked failed the test. The screen malfunctioned. A second S7 Active was dunked in the tank. It also failed. Water was visible in the front and rear camera lenses on both phones. And there was water in the SIM card slot on the second. After several days, the phones still were not working properly.

Consumer Reports contacted Samsung, which said the Galaxy S7 Active is "one of the most rugged phones to date." The company went on to say, "There may be an off chance that a defective device is not as watertight as it should be." Samsung says it is investigating the issue.

Other Samsung Galaxy phones—the S7 and S7 Edge—make the same water-resistance claims. Both passed Consumer Reports' dunk test and are at the top of its smartphone ratings.

AT&T is also offering the earlier version of Samsung's Active phone, the Galaxy S6 Active. That older phone passed Consumer Reports' dunk test last year and is still among its recommended phones.

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