ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The perfect way to protect your smartphone from water and dust
• The touchscreen, camera, and Face ID are still operational when the phone is in the pouch
• The pouch adds a fair bit of bulk to a smartphone.

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The modern smartphone is quite water-resistant. Take my iPhone 17 Pro Max, which has an ingress protection (IP) rating of IP68. That 6 means it is totally dustproof (but there is a “but” that I’ll get to later), and the 8 means it is water-resistant in up to 6 meters of water for 30 minutes. At least when it’s new. 

Knocks and dents, and general wear and tear, can diminish this protection. And no matter how much manufacturers like Apple tout water resistance, if it’s not covered by the warranty, they clearly expect it to fail.

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I like to have a little more protection for my smartphone when I’m out in Mother Nature, and an accessory that I’ve been using for a while now, and that I’ll be taking with me on my trek in northern Spain later this year, is the Peli Marine phone pouch. 

The Marine case is a pouch made of high-quality, soft yet super tough black and clear TPU polymer. It’s rated IP68 for submersion in up to one meter of water for up to an hour. 

There’s a window on the front that allows operation of the smartphone (the smartphone is incredibly responsive to touch in the case), and a smaller window on the back to allow the camera to work. I was surprised to find that Face ID continued to work when the iPhone was in the case.

The case is closed by a very positive catch on the top that is definitely not going to come undone by accident. 

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There’s a loop on the top of the pouch for a lanyard — which is a bit of yellow material that aids in finding the phone if it is misplaced or floats away.

And on the subject of floating away, the pouch can float even when containing a phone.

About the only action that the pouch makes tricky is operating the buttons on the side of the phone. It is still possible, but it’s just a bit fiddly. 

I love this pouch, not only for keeping out water, but also for keeping out sand. While the iPhone is dustproof, getting bits into the port makes charging challenging. In fact, I find moisture a lot easier to deal with than sand in a USB-C port.

ZDNET’s buying advice

The Peli Marine smartphone pouch comes in two sizes — a regular version that’s sized at 8.27 x 4.53 inches (210 x 115 mm) good for smartphones with screen sizes up to 6.1 Inches, or an XL version that’s 9.27 x 5.43 inches (238 x 138 mm) for smartphones with screens up to 6.7 Inches, and they are priced at $19.99 and $24.99, respectively. 

The one I’ve been testing with my iPhone 17 Pro Max is the XL version, and there’s plenty of room in the case. 

For families and larger groups, the cases come in two-packs and four-packs.