Galaxy S5 and cold temperatures

[digitalbuda]

The temps in the freezer where I work is 0 degrees Fahrenheit. I usually work in there no more than 2 hours. I recently got the S5 and am curious as to what temps it can handle?

 

[gorcorps]

I don't think the cold is what will get you, it's the condensation that can form when it starts to warm back up. I wouldn't risk it with any phone.

I'm going to ask a dumb question... Why do you need to bring your phone with you if you're in a freezer for less than 2 hrs and supposed to be working?

 

[digitalbuda]

To answer your "dumb question", I work alone in the freezer. What if something happens and I injure myself, gee ... I left my phone somewhere else and now I can't call for help (Some parts of the freezer are very slippery with black ice.) Last time a couple of my fellow co-workers were accidentally locked in the freezer, they used their phones to call for help.

I'll take extra care with my phone with regards to condensation.

Thanks

 

[Crono]

To answer your "dumb question", I work alone in the freezer. What if something happens and I injure myself, gee ... I left my phone somewhere else and now I can't call for help (Some parts of the freezer are very slippery with black ice.) Last time a couple of my fellow co-workers were accidentally locked in the freezer, they used their phones to call for help.

I'll take extra care with my phone with regards to condensation.

Thanks

You could put your phone in a ziploc/sandwich bag and it should keep out most moisture and keep it in your pocket. That temperature shouldn't be a problem then.

 

[mikeymikec]

I realise the OP is going to think that this is an unhelpful response, but I would avoid putting myself in the situation where my only hope for not freezing to death is my phone signal. In my last moments I imagine I'd hear the laughter of my cell phone provider's marketing department after they doctored the latest batch of reception statistics.

So personally I'd opt for either having someone on the other side of the freezer door just in case, or say to someone "if I'm not out in five minutes please come and get me".

 

[WelshBloke]

You could put your phone in a ziploc/sandwich bag and it should keep out most moisture and keep it in your pocket. That temperature shouldn't be a problem then.

S5 is already waterproof so I doubt that the bag is going to do anything that the phone isn't already doing.

I presume that you wear some warm clothing whilst working in the freezer? If you keep your phone under that layer and near your skin then it shouldn't get that cold.

 

[gorcorps]

To answer your "dumb question", I work alone in the freezer. What if something happens and I injure myself, gee ... I left my phone somewhere else and now I can't call for help (Some parts of the freezer are very slippery with black ice.) Last time a couple of my fellow co-workers were accidentally locked in the freezer, they used their phones to call for help.

I'll take extra care with my phone with regards to condensation.

Thanks

I see. When I wrote my response I was thinking of my previous jobs working in a freezer, and once that door was closed there was no signal from any provider that was going to get there to help you. If you're still able to call then it makes a little more sense.

 

[mrpiggy]

Last time I had to work in a walk-in freezer (long time ago), I still had dumb phones that had much better reception/power than the current smart phones, and still couldn't get reception once the door was closed. Assuming most walk-in freezers are still a big ass Faraday cage of metal and insulation, you're gonna freeze to death if all you have is your S5 to call for help on..

 

[TuxDave]

I realise the OP is going to think that this is an unhelpful response, but I would avoid putting myself in the situation where my only hope for not freezing to death is my phone signal. In my last moments I imagine I'd hear the laughter of my cell phone provider's marketing department after they doctored the latest batch of reception statistics.

So personally I'd opt for either having someone on the other side of the freezer door just in case, or say to someone "if I'm not out in five minutes please come and get me".

I sort of had this same off topic question. I'm lucky enough to have a job where the most likely cause of death at work comes from a cholesterol or catastrophic events. Does OSHA not have anything to say about putting employees in situations where they can get isolated in a freezer and the only mechanism to get saved is your personal cellphone?

 

[NikolaeVarius]

I sort of had this same off topic question. I'm lucky enough to have a job where the most likely cause of death at work comes from a cholesterol or catastrophic events. Does OSHA not have anything to say about putting employees in situations where they can get isolated in a freezer and the only mechanism to get saved is your personal cellphone?

I'm pretty sure all freezers are required to be openable from the inside. You can't lock a freezer and have it be un-openable by design, unless you literally put a bar or something over the door.

 

[blankslate]

S5 is already waterproof so I doubt that the bag is going to do anything that the phone isn't already doing.

I presume that you wear some warm clothing whilst working in the freezer? If you keep your phone under that layer and near your skin then it shouldn't get that cold.

The Ziplock bag could provide a warmer pocket of air so that condensation is more likely to form on the outside of the phone and on the inside surface of the ziplock bag instead of inside of the phone.

Even though the phone is water resistant to a degree there is no guarantee that the air that was trapped in the gasket(s) that provide the IP rating is free of all moisture.

IMO a ziplock bag couldn't hurt since in my experience from placing my phone in a ziplock bag while washing my car the thin plastic doesn't interfere with the touchscreen.


*e2a*

Like other posters have asked... why wouldn't someone be able to open the freezer from inside unless the employer is breaking OSHA regulations?

.....

 

[Zaap]

Like other posters have asked... why wouldn't someone be able to open the freezer from inside unless the employer is breaking OSHA regulations?

Sounds like he said possibility of trip/fall situation on black ice. In which case, he could be injured and unable to get to the door.

Honestly, I'd be petitioning the employer for a better system to avoid all of this altogether. The employer should provide a walkie-talkie, work-provided phone, or whatever else, and have an adequate check-in system in place so no one is worried about being left freezing in a freezer or having to rely on their own phone. What if the day something happens there's no reception, forgot to charge, fall and break phone, etc?

Since it's happened already, the employer should have a fire put under their ass to get some proper safety precautions in place. Just my 2cents.

 

[gorcorps]

Sounds like he said possibility of trip/fall situation on black ice. In which case, he could be injured and unable to get to the door.

Honestly, I'd be petitioning the employer for a better system to avoid all of this altogether. The employer should provide a walkie-talkie, work-provided phone, or whatever else, and have an adequate check-in system in place so no one is worried about being left freezing in a freezer or having to rely on their own phone. What if the day something happens there's no reception, forgot to charge, fall and break phone, etc?

Since it's happened already, the employer should have a fire put under their ass to get some proper safety precautions in place. Just my 2cents.

It's got to be a pretty specific situation where somebody hurts themselves enough to not be able to move, yet their phone still works AND they can move just enough to get their phone out and make a call.

I'm also assuming this is not how the OP thought this was going to go

 

[lxskllr]

I can vouch for 30F. If you're patient, and we have a cold winter, I may be able to report on ~22F. Hopefully it doesn't get colder than that.

 

[zerocool84]

S5 is already waterproof so I doubt that the bag is going to do anything that the phone isn't already doing.

I presume that you wear some warm clothing whilst working in the freezer? If you keep your phone under that layer and near your skin then it shouldn't get that cold.

FYI the S5 is not waterproof, it's water resistant which is a totally different thing.

 

[lxskllr]

FYI the S5 is not waterproof, it's water resistant which is a totally different thing.

Not really. Nothing is waterproof. All "waterproof" claims are defined by a specification relating to depth and time. The S5 is waterproof for submersion of 1m for 30 minutes.

 

[chimaxi83]

S5 is already waterproof so I doubt that the bag is going to do anything that the phone isn't already doing.

I presume that you wear some warm clothing whilst working in the freezer? If you keep your phone under that layer and near your skin then it shouldn't get that cold.

S5 water resistance doesn't matter much when the condensation is forming inside, on the PCB.

 

[blankslate]

Sounds like he said possibility of trip/fall situation on black ice. In which case, he could be injured and unable to get to the door.

He also mentioned people locked inside that freezer which prompted the discussion about the safety of freezers that people could walk into and get locked into...

Last time a couple of my fellow co-workers were accidentally locked in the freezer, they used their phones to call for help.

....

 

[pm]

I find that most cell phones are ok down to about -15F or so and then usually the battery will start to act funky and may shut down unless it's >70% charged. But I've used my cell phone at 14000ft on really cold windy days when the temperature was -10F or lower and it's been ok.

I agree with everyone else though - the problem with a freezer would be condensation (there's not much humidity when it's -10F outside).

And then on the whole locking-in-the-freezer thing... that seems like something to talk about with the employer.

 

[WelshBloke]

S5 water resistance doesn't matter much when the condensation is forming inside, on the PCB.

Yeah I know, I was disagreeing that the plastic bag would achieve anything that a waterproof phone and a layer of warm clothing wouldn't.

 

[sweenish]

All this talk about potential death traps remind me of my previous place of employment where I was on the third floor of a building with no fire suppression system and only the interior main stairwells to evacuate.

 

[jumpncrash]

just leave it in your inside pocket, it'll be fine. Are you freezing? so then the phone won't be either, I've been bringing my phones ice fishing for years and never has it been an issue

 

[alexeus]

As jumpncrash said, I think your phone will be fine. But i guess you can get a hood or something. That + keeping the phone in a pocket should be more than ok.

 

[cmdrdredd]

My S5 was exposed to below 20F temps and it would shut down and not turn on until it warmed up again.

 

[werepossum]

Last time I had to work in a walk-in freezer (long time ago), I still had dumb phones that had much better reception/power than the current smart phones, and still couldn't get reception once the door was closed. Assuming most walk-in freezers are still a big ass Faraday cage of metal and insulation, you're gonna freeze to death if all you have is your S5 to call for help on..

That's why you also carry your iFireAxe. Make a hole; crawl out through hole; get reception.

I'm pretty sure all freezers are required to be openable from the inside. You can't lock a freezer and have it be un-openable by design, unless you literally put a bar or something over the door.

Yep, but a huge number of commercial walk-in coolers and freezers have padlocks added to stop pilferage.