Review: Beachbuoy Waterproof Phone Pouch

Following the experiences of a number of our motorbike trips over the years, being sent a completely waterproof pouch for my phone to review was incredibly useful – thanks Mobile Fun! And, as expected but not wanted, when we woke up on Tuesday last week and it was teeming it down I reached for my Beachbuoy, sealed my phone inside, and didn’t worry about it for the rest of the day.

This waterproof pouch is designed for taking your gadgets underwater – down to five metres. It is totally and completely waterproof thanks to the two grip seals, and you can use your touch screen phone while it’s inside. I’ve seen this sort of thing before and have always thought one would be useful.

Before you use your Beachbuoy to put your phone in the manufacturer advises you complete the tissue paper test… just to make sure. Basically you put a tissue inside the pouch, seal it up, and dunk it in water for a few minutes. Then you take the pouch out of the water, dry off the outside and your hands, and open it up to see the state of the tissue inside. Completely dry, very impressive. As long as I made sure the grip seals are done up properly, which was very easy to do, I could be confident my precious phone wouldn’t get water damage.

In real life use it worked too. Good job really! My phone was very safe inside the pouch even when the rest of me was slowly getting wet through (mmmmm damp pants…), and I could take the phone (in the pouch) out of my pocket and use it in the rain also without worrying about it – there was nothing to stop me tweeting even on that day! You can also use the phone camera through the pouch as it is clear front and back, a definite bonus for me.

There are a couple of negatives I have found. One is the size. To be fair this isn’t just designed for the iPhone and can accommodate all sorts of phones and compact cameras, but it is quite wide and so was a squeeze to get it in my bike jacket pocket. It does have a neck strap, though, so you can wear it around your neck or attach it to something else to make it easier to carry. The other is that while I can happily use my phone when it is inside the pouch, the completely sealed construction that makes it waterproof means making a call (hearing the person you are talking to) is not that easy – the sound is a bit muffled.

Those two small things aside, this is a great accessory for anyone who does anything that involves getting wet and really wants to take their phone with them. The fact that it is totally waterproof means it’s not just good for activities like walking, cycling, motorbiking etc in the rain – it can also be used for water sports like swimming, sailing and canoeing.

The Beachbuoy is just one of the iPhone5 covers available from Mobile Fun.