You take your mobile devices everywhere. Living room, bedroom, and even the bathroom, although many of us won’t admit it. But what if you can take your iPod touch or your smartphone underwater, say, down to 100ft?
As terrifying as it sounds, the very idea is actually possible, thanks to the DryCASE series from Dry Corp. LLC. We’ve decided to test one of their popular DryCASE for smartphones and similar-sized devices.
The package gives you everything you need to bring your device underwater, including an armband and vacuum pump which sucks air out of the case. In theory, making an air-tight bag will work as a waterproof case, but we won’t know for sure unless we try them, will we?
Before we jump right in, it’s always a good idea to read the note that says “Important” in red. The note says that it’s a good idea to test the case for 10 minutes underwater after you pump out all the air. Good point, because most likely the electronics you’re putting in the case would cost way more than the case itself. You don’t want to pour water into your mobile device just because you’re too lazy to spare 10-minutes, do you?
One minor complaint we had during the process wasn’t actually the waiting time or the air vacuum mechanism, but the case lock itself. DryCASE has two plastic knobs to lock the case, making sure that it’s air tight. It does its job very well, in fact a little too well for our taste. It takes a lot of force to lock it completely, and we’re not sure teenage girls would be able do it, at least with ease. True, we would rather have a complete air-tight waterproof case than a easy-to-use-but-maybe-vulnerable mechanism behind the case. But we wished that it required less force to lock the case.
Enough with the explanation; let’s see if the case works underwater.
We took it underwater for about 15 minutes. During the test, we tested touch-screen games and played music through the 3.5″ audio jack which was provided with the case. The quality of the case material felt robust, so we were concerned about the touch screen response underwater, but our iPod touch performed wonderfully without a hiccup. And the screen did look clear, as you can see on our photos. You do get air bubbles here and there, but it’s a small price to pay for making your device waterproof.
Dropping a $200 device into a plastic bag underwater sure feels uneasy, but DryCASE did its job well, and very well too. Our iPod touch was dry, and worked without a problem. We now have a virtually waterproof iPod touch that we can take to the pool, sunny beach or our own bath tub. We couldn’t take the case down to 100ft down underwater, but since now we are comfortable with the result, the statement that the case is waterproof upto 100ft underwater sounds convincing.
Still feel uneasy about taking your mobile devices underwater? Well, you don’t really have to bring your gadget underwater to make it work; DryCASE can work as a shield designed to comfort your mind. Let’s say you’re taking a bath and want to play games or want to read using your portable gadget; you will most likely place your gadget above water, but still can shield your gadget with the DryCASE just in case you drop it into the tub. Or maybe you’re going rafting, but want to bring your portable camera; just bring the DryCASE with an armband so you won’t lose it until you reach the destination. Whatever your purpose, DryCASE will keep your important gadgets, or just about anything dry as intended.
And for your iPad and e-book users, there’s larger version of DryCASE as well so make sure to check them out.
Our Score: 9 /10
Awesome price, great waterproof product; works as advertised.
