Waterproof - not officially but....

[Mark Kaplan]

So today I jumped into a swimming pool wearing my Band. After about 30 minutes, I realized my error and of course freaked out. To my surprise, it was reacting fine. I set it aside to fully dry and so far after 2 hours of normal use it seems fine. This was not a deep pool so there was negligible water pressure. Microsoft officially states the Band is Water Resistant. I would definitely say it is! Microsoft Band water resistance | Water resistance information for the Microsoft Band

 

[rob801]

​It's officially IP67 rated (same as the Apple Watch), which means it's fully dust sealed and safe in 1 meter of water for 30 minutes. People are a lot more worried about its level of water resistance than they should be!

 

[Alroy Swain]

so I could potentitally shower with it on?

 

[Chinocop]

I have showered with mine as well as washed dishes with it on and never had any problems.

 

[oezkanp]

My experience with electronic items wich are water resistant is that you can do it (showering, pool...) many times without problems but you should not do it constantly if you want a long-living item.

 

[raydwatts]

Mine got soaked when I was caught in a heavy rain shower this morning and now the screen is ruined by colour bleeding and horizontal lines. I've arranged a return to have it tested and possibly get a replacement.

 

[DroidUser42]

Mine got soaked when I was caught in a heavy rain shower this morning and now the screen is ruined by colour bleeding and horizontal lines. I've arranged a return to have it tested and possibly get a replacement.

And that's why you don't want to push your luck. Yes, the standard allows for water, up to a depth of 1 m, but that's not the same as soapy water (which by design gets into smaller cracks) or the dynamic water pressure of swimming.

And if you didn't/couldn't get MS Complete - the repair/replacement is likely to be on your dime. Feeling lucky?

Personally, I tend to look at this the same way as feeding parking meters: If I forget and I am late getting back to the meter - I've always been lucky. (No ticket). But if I deliberately push my luck because "it will only be a minute" - bam.

 

[raydwatts]

I managed to get a replacement. I suspect it may be refurbished because it was not in an original box but it looks brand new with no marks, however there is no screen protector included so I'll have to get one.

 

[Aaron5]

I work in research and until last week I had always washed my Band pretty thoroughly when I wash my hands before going home. Last week I had to reach into a pretty gross pool of water with my Band hand so i washed the Band extra vigorously. At some point during that, water must've gotten into my Band and an hour later, the LCD was nonfunctional. I'm thinking it was probably my washing rather than the pool that did this.

Anyway, being that my Band was only 5 months old, I took it to the MS store two hours away and they replaced it with a brand new one without asking any questions whatsoever. From other forum posts I've seen, going to a physical store yields a pretty good chance that they'll replace it, while calling the support line gives mixed results.

Moral to the story, if your Band is less than a year old and you live close to a MS Store, take your Band there if it stops working.

Also, I don't want to hijack this thread but my new band seems slightly different than the first one. The rubber on the strap or something just seems different. Maybe they've discretely improved some materials or maybe I'm imagining things. Anyone else notice this?