Recommend a cheap waterproof device?

[swechsler]

I'm looking for an Android device (either a phone or small tablet) that I can use in and around the pool to work with my Harmony Remote Hub and Logitech Squeezebox audio system. Pretty much all it needs is Bluetooth and Wifi, I don't need any sort of carrier. Even battery life isn't that critical, just a few hours should be just fine. It can be new or used. But it has to be the sort of thing that will keep working if I drop it in the pool, and it should be viewable in direct sunlight. Short of putting it in a waterproof case, is there any such device?

 

[mikedt]

Quite frankly I don't think there's anything cheap that's actually truly waterproof, and would survive been dunked in a swimming pool. What's the maximum price you can go to? See if Amazon has anything? Maybe look at phones made by Cat, like S60, those are around $350 I think.

 

[svim]

As @mikedt stated, you'll need to spend a bit more to get a truly water-proof phone. There are however a number of phones with good water-resistant features. The gsmarena site has a 'Phone Finder' feature and there's an 'IP Certificate' category that's relevant to you what you're asking:
https://www.gsmarena.com/search.php3?
That's a reference to Ingress Protection Certification, the rating system referring to dust and water resistance for smartphones:
https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-rugged-is-your-phone/
There are also options like waterproof bags and cases that might work out for what you want.

 

[Hadron]

Quite frankly I don't think there's anything cheap that's actually truly waterproof, and would survive been dunked in a swimming pool.

It's a matter of terminology, isn't is: "waterproof" actually means that water simply will not enter no matter how long the phone is immersed, by which reckoning there are no waterproof phones on the market. "Water resistant" means that it will resist ingress up to a point, as specified by the IP rating.

But it's worth reading the small print of the IP ratings: they are for exposure to clean water (and probably within a particular temperature range if you really dig deep). So swimming pools, with their raised chlorine content, are not covered (nor is the sea, and for that matter exposure to soap/shampoo/shower gel is also outside spec, so use in the shower is not recommended). In fact in the UK several manufacturers have been forced to withdraw ad campaigns that showed the phones being used in swimming pools or the sea for precisely this reason: as these uses are not covered by the certification it was false advertising to show them used this way.

Of course you may get away with things that are outside spec, particularly if your real concern is water being splashed on the phone rather than it ending up in the pool - and as your usage is wireless you should be able to keep it at least a few meters away from the water anyway, so you shouldn't over-sweat this. But if you have an accident and the phone doesn't survive your warranty won't cover a swimming pool. As @svim says, a waterproof bag or case might be a simpler answer (as it won't restrict your choice of devices as much).

 

[Hadron]

Well the iPhone 11 Pro Max doesn't meet the specifications of "Android", and none of your suggestions is "cheap", so none of them is what was asked for .