Even hours in a freezing Arctic river couldn’t kill this Galaxy S23 Ultra

Samsung's Galaxy S phones provide the best in everything, from functionality to power and durability. Most users would never experience conditions that would test those durability claims to the limit, but often we hear of these devices facing extreme conditions and yet coming away unscathed.

That's precisely what happened with the Galaxy S23 Ultra owned by Mikael Krekula, a professional wilderness guide in Sweden. The Galaxy S23 Ultra slipped from his glove and fell into an ice fishing hole while he was testing out sonar equipment on the frozen Kalix River. The device was submerged in around three meters below the surface, but even those tough conditions couldn't kill it.

Mikael felt what anyone in that condition would have felt, that the device was as good as gone, even if it was recovered. Water ingress could have caused significant damage to the internals, and the extreme temperatures may only have compounded the misery.

It's worth nothing that the Galaxy S23 Ultra's IP68 rating classifies it as water resistant in up to 1.5 meters of freshwater for 30 minutes. Mikael's device was in much harsher conditions for a longer time, but the Galaxy S23 Ultra's durability stood firm.

Yet, Mikael decided to try and recover the device, spending around five hours drilling new ice holes just to get a better angle to try and reach the device. What ultimately did the trick was a summer fishing net tied to a birch rod.

To his surprise, the Galaxy S23 Ultra powered on immediately without requiring any reboot or drying procedures. The device was completely unfazed even after being submerged in a frozen river for more than five hours. That's remarkable durability for a device that's already two years old now.

Image credit: Samsung