The beach is a death trap according to Xiaomi This is all that will happen to your phone if you take it to the beach
It’s summer and it’s very hot. We get it. The need to visit the beach is increasing dramatically and we need to step on the sand whether for a few hours or for several days. This means we carry our personal belongings with us, our wallet, our bag and of course our cell phone. But for cell phones, the beach is a death trap and the danger comes from several fronts.
Because as we said, the beach is full of dangers. Not only because of the water, which is dangerous in itself even if it is fresh, but also because of the sand. Yes, sand. It burns your feet, fills your shoes, and can even scratch your cell phone screen in various ways. We usually advise against taking your cell phone to the beach, and if you do, put it in a waterproof case, but at least this article will help you understand the risks.
- On the beach, everything conspires to destroy your devices. Like salt water.
We can start talking about water, as we said before. And if water is a danger in itself, salt water is even more so. Even waterproof devices, the ones that tell you they can withstand immersion, can’t withstand sea water. When we talk about these things, and IP67 or IP68 or IP69 protection, we’re only talking about fresh water, but salt water is another story.
Salt water is corrosive, and you don’t want it to get inside your device. It’s the same outside as well. You might be tempted to take a photo in the water, or go for a swim for a while with your Xiaomi Watch strapped on your wrist. The salt in the water corrodes any metal component, which not only ruins its appearance but also its efficiency. Salt water can easily destroy the protection that prevents water from entering your watch or mobile phone.
If that happens, salt water is more destructive than fresh water. Once salt water gets into your watch or phone, you can say goodbye to it. There are few or no effective ways to protect your mobile phone or watch from water ingress, which will destroy the internal circuits and force you to change the hardware almost immediately. And if it survives, it will not work as it did before. This is a reminder that brands do not cover water damage in their warranties.
On the other hand, in addition to salt water, we also have another enemy according to Xiaomi. We are talking about beach sand. That sand that burns the soles of our feet and can not only get into your phone, but can also destroy the screen. This is another reason why we say that having a waterproof case is the best solution if you go to the beach with your mobile phone.
Although beach sand is actually a mixture of different components, the truth is that we are mostly talking about crushed quartz rock. This silicate is usually the thinnest, most easily blown away by the wind and can sneak into your phone's charging port, speakers or even headphone jack.
Or even landing on the screen, which could be worse. Because that simple gesture of running a cloth across the mobile phone screen to clean it, or a shirt or a towel, can eventually scratch the panel completely due to being dragged along by a grain of sand. Because yes, it is practically glass and can ruin the appearance of our screen. So, if we do not expose the mobile phone to beach sand, it is much better.
The sun is one of the silent enemies of our devices, because we may think that leaving them in the shade protects them but it doesn’t. It gets hot on the beach on two levels. Very hot in the sun, very hot even though it may not feel like it in the shade. The entire environment heats up causing the electronics to experience heat stress + heat stress that comes out when we use them. So, on the beach, the cell phone heats up faster than expected.
If we also use it in the sun, the screen modes designed to improve visibility make it shine much more strongly, which continues to generate more and more heat. All this can end up with our device rendered useless by heat until we cool it down, a safety mechanism widespread in the mobile world, or even with a melted component. If using your cell phone in the heat is bad, it can be worse at the beach because it mixes with the humidity of the environment, and this causes corrosion.
So, everything on the beach conspires to destroy your cell phone, tablet or any electronic device you carry. Even the power bank you keep in your beach bag to run out of battery. Our recommendation is, and always will be, not to bring electronic devices to the beach, and leave them at home. But if you do take them, at least you know the risks and you can protect them as much as possible. They are expensive devices and no one likes to have to replace them because of a malfunction.