Android Samsung S20 Ultra - Dropped in the pool.

SiddharthaG

Novice
Hello friends,
I tried to take an underwater video with my Samsung 20 Ultra mobile and water entered my phone. Now my display is not working. I took it to the Samsung service centre they said that the motherboard and display have been damaged due to water and it would cost 40k to repair it. After which I took the phone to a local repair shop and they did a chemical wash on the motherboard and mentioned that the motherboard is fine , they even said that they tested it with a sim and that the phone was able to receive calls. But the display is gone and they said it costs Rs.18,000 for the display but without any warranty or guarantee. At samsung they provide the display for around Rs.22,000. Right now my phone's condition is that the display is gone , but when I plug it into charge it starts vibrating which is similar to the vibration that the phone does when it warns about water entering the phone and it starts making the warning noise.
Is there any way to fix my phone without spending a lot?
Has anyone encountered a similar problem?
Is it possible to claim samsung warranty?
Can I retrieve data from my phone? If so please let me know how?
Please help me guys.

If you have read so far, I really appreciate your patience.

Thanks in advance fam.
 
Is it possible to claim samsung warranty?
No warranty on water damaged phones.

Can I retrieve data from my phone? If so please let me know how?
Go to any aftermarket mobile shop, tell him I just want to get the data out of my phone, but screen is broken, he will for the moment replace it with a working one. Then see if the phone turns on and data can be retrieved. This will be your chance to see if your phone work as intended and will answer your question to get the new display or not. Don't believe what they say only believe what you see.
 
If the S20 Ultra supports Samsung Dex (which I'm assuming it does) , ya might be able to connect it to a display with an adaptor to see if it's working and maybe even upload some important files/contacts to the cloud??


My advice would be to try to connect it to a display with a Usb C hub , check if things are working. If they are you might be able to simply attach a hard drive / pendrive to the hub and simply copy over some important data
 
I am pretty sure that before a phone accepts a connection to a PC for data transfer, it needs to be unlocked first with the PIN or pattern, and the mode needs to be changed from "charging" to "data transfer"
Hi Tearphones , when my phone was working I used to connect my phone to my laptop using the C-C cable and it would automatically start data transfer instead of charging. But after dropping it in the water I tried connecting it to my laptop but it started vibrating and making the warning noise and no data transfer started in my laptop nor did my laptop indicate that a phone is connected to it . So I think that method is a no go. Thank you for your valuable input.

Is it possible that data can be recovered if connected to pc or

Hi Chetansha sorry about the previous reply.
As u can see from my reply to Tearphones. I tried connecting it to my laptop but it didnt help.
Thank you for your valuable input lad.

That would be the best case scenario to be honest
Unfortunately it didn't work Rednekol. Appreciate the input. Thanks
 
this, folks is a very good case for why ip68 is a ****ing scam, but to the OP, have you tried looking on XDA? maybe with ADB you can wrangle the data out somehow? or even go back to samsung service center and ask them to at least try to get the data out?
 
they even said that they tested it with a sim and that the phone was able to receive calls.
First of all , did you check that for yourself ?

Unless you did , you're just assuming everything else on the motherboard is working fine based on their word.

Is getting back your data worth spending the 18 to 22k for a display ?
If yes, you already know what it's gonna cost.

In case you decide to spend the extra money and Samsung service offers to replace the display , they for sure will not take responsibility if something goes wrong or if the board isn't working in any capacity.
Neither will the local store.

You will be charged for the replacement parts even if the rest of the board / phone has issues.
So keep that in mind.

Also given your phone went through a reboot / power off situation at some point , your phone is locked and without a working display or a way to unlock it first' of all, no way to get that data out.
 
It's misleading because it comes with an expiry date. OP does not mention how old the phone is so I'm guessing a couple of years. Possibly older.

The phone won't be IP68 that long
As far as I checked, quality of the coating or whatever it is reduces over time due to normal wear and tear and they don't expire one day as you've mentioned.
 
It's misleading because it comes with an expiry date. OP does not mention how old the phone is so I'm guessing a couple of years. Possibly older.

The phone won't be IP68 that long
yep exactly! the rating starts to expire from the time the phone is manufactured. in fact you still won't get any warranty if you'd just bought the phone and it got water damage
 
Slightly off topic doubt here... I have a dead POCO F1 (MB issue is what MI showroom said 3 years back). Any possibility to retrieve data from that phone?
 
Slightly off topic doubt here... I have a dead POCO F1 (MB issue is what MI showroom said 3 years back). Any possibility to retrieve data from that phone?
It should be possible since its android, there are two ways:-

1. Getting the storage IC out of the motherboard and reading it with some sort of external reader. Usually with this method only photos and video can be extracted.

2. Getting a POCO F1 working motherboard and replacing its storage IC with yours, with this method all the data can be accessed including WhatsApp chats.

Phone repair people can do this job for you, if they can not then data recovery people will do, but as always murphy laws applies.
 
this, folks is a very good case for why ip68 is a ****ing scam?
I think older phone battery expands making the IP rating fail, I've put multiple samsung phones under water for some cool underwater photography, s7 , note 10 plus and note 20 ultra too, no issues doesn't charge for a couple of hours due to moisture in charging port warning but waterproofing held and worked fine.
 
I think older phone battery expands making the IP rating fail, I've put multiple samsung phones under water for some cool underwater photography, s7 , note 10 plus and note 20 ultra too, no issues doesn't charge for a couple of hours due to moisture in charging port warning but waterproofing held and worked fine.
The point for me is not whether the proofing held, but whether the OEM will give you warranty if it didn't. Which they don't, without warranty you are basically YOLO'ing your phone and at that point even my prev motorola has survived a few accidental dips in water.
 
@op

  • If you had enabled remote unlock under find my phone settings, you can login to smartthings web portal & remotely unlock your mobile & remove the password/pattern (more on this below).
    • Screenshot_20230820_005148_Find My Mobile.jpg
  • If you had set-up link to windows by any chance, you can cast the display on pc/laptop. Just that you need to connect a keyboard to the mobile and use tab/enter buttons to control the start button on screen, which would otherwise be done via touchscreen on a fully functional phone.
    • Resetting the pattern/password that I had mentioned in the first step is the key to navigate the phone via keyboard easily.
  • Dex via HDMI should also work, but again might need a keyboard to navigate through the initial prompts.
  • If you have Bixby enabled by any chance, you can ask bibxy to toggle any setting like "enable/disable link to windows" etc

How do I know it works? Coz I was on the same boat a while ago and discovered these life saving features, via which I'm able to use the phone (display gone) as a dex only device.
 
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This is bound to happen as after 3.5mm jack now sd cards slot has been phased out.
Soon we all are gonna cry for our data.
Last months, friends phone died out of nowhere and his phone had no sd card slot. Phone was in immaculate condition yet the sudden death and loss of data, now say?

I feel soon phones will be used only for calls and text if this shit keeps happening this way. EU law should bring back sd card just like they are bringing back removable batteries and unified charging slot.
 
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