The Need for Expandable Storage aka Why I Replace My Phone Yearly aka Your S23 Ultra Is Probably No Longer Waterproof

Last week in a beautiful country with so-so internet my Galaxy S23 Ultra took a swim.

It fell in. I jumped in and grabbed it.

Wouldn't turn on.

The phone was fried.

In the US, my phone syncs most stuff with the cloud but overseas that was impossible. Tons of video and photos from the vacation were lost.

In the old days, I would usually back stuff up to the SD card as I went or shoot directly to the SD card.

Had that been the case I could have just yanked the SD card out and grabbed my photos. The SD tray and SIM tray were bone dry.

Instead I have a dead phone and tons of lost data.

Historically, I traded in my phone yearly. People on this sub like to ran and rave about how "no one needs a new phone every year" but the wear and tear is real. My S23U should still be waterproof but 3 years is apparently beyond the limit of the gaskets or whatever. The battery was also abysmal and I had to run the phone on battery saver 24/7 to have any kind of battery life.

This is why I used to upgrade every year.

So that my waterproofing was recent. So that my battery life is top tier. So that the device that runs my life from photos to banking is always ready for what gets thrown at it. Also, it's typically cheaper to do it that way.

I stopped yearly upgrades when Samsung started downgrading each model starting with the S24U that lost the 10x telephoto. Then the 25U that lost the bluetooth S-Pen.

And, of course, I'm kicking myself for not upgrading a few weeks ago to the 26U which likely would have been able to survive with fresh seals or under warranty.

That said, I don't think it unreasonable that I feel like my data should be secure from water on a 3 year old phone that's rated to survive what I just put it through.

Anyway, if you have an S23U...

That thing probably isn't going to survive exposure to water at this point.

This experience also reminded me why I typically upgrade every year.

I will probably buy a used Samsung but it's been extremely frustrating to be longtime Samsung / Note fan and watch them deteriorate key functionality and features from the phone while expecting us to continue to hand them money.