Samsung’s advertisements claim Galaxy phones are water resistant to the extent they can be used while swimming and surfing, but that’s totally false, according to Australia’s consumer watchdog, which has filed a lawsuit against the company. These phones have an IP68 rating, but that does not mean they should be immersed in salt water, ionized water, or soapy water.
Yet the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) found “more than 300 advertisements in which Samsung showed its Galaxy phones being used at the bottom of swimming pools and in the ocean.” The Korean giant could be fined millions if it can’t defend its case.
Samsung’s water resistance claims came under heavy scrutiny as early as 2016 when influential U.S. magazine Consumer Reports said the Galaxy S7 phone – which appears dunked in a fish tank in commercials – had failed an immersion test.
The company attributed that to a manufacturing defect, affecting a small number of phones, which it soon fixed. But customers online continued reporting problems, forum comments show.