Holi 2022: How to keep your smartphone and other devices safe during Holi

Holi 2022 is almost here and while you’re excited to go out and enjoy the festival of colours with your friends, your devices deserve special care. Ahead of the festival, here are a few tips you can follow to keep your smartphone and wearables safe this Holi.
Note: Colours and water can be damaging to gadgets and the best way to keep your phone and wearables safe is to leave them at home. However, if you must take your devices with you, check out the following tips.
Waterproof pouches
The small waterproof plastic pouches that people use to keep their phones safe during the rains are super cheap and can be the best way to keep your phone safe outdoors during Holi. You can find these online or at your local mobile stores and simply slip your smartphone in and zip the bag to keep it safe.
However, a bag may not cut it if you’re going to be pulling out your phone many times throughout the day, say for taking pictures or making calls.
Plastic pouches like the one you see here are an effective and inexpensive way to keep water and colours at bay. (Image Source: Amazon India)
Cheap cases, screen protectors and camera lens protectors
If you want to preserve the aesthetics and camera capabilities of your phone, you must protect it from the outside as well. Cheap transparent TPU cases that wrap around the phone can be easily taken off and discarded if they get stained with colours.
Cheap cases and lens protectors can be added to your phoen for more protection and can be easily taken off and discarded if stained. (Image Source: Amazon India)
You can also use screen protectors and camera lens covers to protect these crucial parts of the phone from colours that may be hard to get off later. We recommend getting a slightly expensive screen protector, given this will ensure a better survival rate for the device should Holi celebrations turn out to be more boerous.
Cleaning your phones
If your smartphone does get colours on it despite precautions, you’re going to have to be careful while cleaning it. If your phone has the right IP certifications and is water resant, you may simply be able to give it a couple of splashes and wipe the colours away with a cloth.

However, if that’s not the case, prepare a wet cloth to wipe your phone and stay away from exposed areas like the ports, the edges of a removable back panel and speaker grille or microphone.
Dust plugs
Dust plugs that cover up open ports on your smartphone are not exactly designed to protect it from water damage, but it’s still better than having the port left open completely.
Dust plugs like such are great if you don’t want to leave your ports exposed. (Image Source: Amazon India)
You can find dust plugs for USB-C ports and 3.5mm ports online easily and these can be a great addition to make your phone safer on Holi.

Earbuds and smartwatches
If you must also take your earbuds with you, consider putting them in a case or plastic bag too. Note that even with most earbuds that are IP certified and resant to water, it is the buds themselves which are water resant and not the case. This is especially observed on budget TWS earbuds. Hence, you want to keep the case away from water as much as possible. Plus the chances of these getting lost during Holi celebrations are pretty high, so we suggest leaving them at home.
Smartwatch which are IP certified are relatively safe during Holi. However, if you want to be extra careful, popular smartwatches also have screen protectors available that can save you from staining. We would recommend getting a screen guard for the Apple Watch especially if you plan to wear it during holi celebrations. If your smartwatch is not water resant, you should really leave it at home to avoid damage.