IP Ratings are things you see in the specifications of top-end smartphones. Some common ones include IP68, IP67, and IP53. So, what are IP ratings? IP stands for “Ingress protection”. IP ratings indicate the level of water and dust resistance that is built into a device. IP Ratings come in the format “IP” followed by two numbers, e.g., IP53.
Dust-resistance: The first number represents the level of protection provided against dust, and ranges from 0 (the lowest) to 6 (the highest). An X is used, e.g. IPX6, when there is no official data about the degree of protection available.
Water-resistance: The second number represents the level of protection against water and other liquids, and ranges 0 (the lowest) to 9 (the highest). Again, where there is no official data about the degree of protection available, an X is used. E.g., IP6X.
Example: IP69 refers to the highest degree of dust resistance (6) and the highest degree of water resistance (9). IP06 refers to the lowest degree of dust resistance and a water resistance of 6. device rated IP69 has the highest level of Ingress protection available now.
But that is not all, we need to look at what those degrees of protection translates to in usage. For example, having the highest degree of protection does not mean you can go scuba-diving in deep waters with your smartphone. There are limitations for each rating that you must be aware of.
Common IP Ratings Explained
Below are some of the most common Ingress protection or IP ratings in use for electronic devices, and what they mean.
IPX3 Rating: An IPX4-rated device does not have any information available about protection from dust, but can survive water sprays and splashes when the device is tilted at an angle up to 60 degrees.
IP53 Rating: An IP53-rated device is partially protected from contact with dust and light sprays of water when the device is tilted at an angle up to 60 degrees.
IP64 Rating: An IP64-rated device has full protection from dust and from water sprays and splashes from all directions. So, you can use this in light rain and scenarios where water is being splashed.
IPX7 Rating: An IPX7-rated device has not been officially rated for protection from dust but is protected from immersion in water with a depth of up to 1 meter or 3.3 feet for no more than a period of 30 minutes.
IP67 Rating: An IP67-rated device is fully protected from dust and also from immersion in water with a depth of up to 1 meter or 3.3 feet for no more than a period of 30 minutes.
IPX8 Rating: An IPX8-rated device can survive being submerged in water, then, but it hasn’t officially been rated for any protection from dust.Â
IP68 Rating: An IP68-rated device is fully protected from dust and from immersion in water of more than 1 meter depth.
IP69K Rating: An IP69K-rated device is fully protected from dust and high temperature, high pressure water e.g. hot water from a nozzle. This is usually in an industrial setting.
What kind of mobile devices have IP ratings?
Usually, premium flagship smartphones have an IP rating, though some models have been known to not have. As such, if you are shopping for a premium flagship phone, check the specs to see what IP rating is available for it. It does not hurt to have some measure of Ingress protection for a phone that costs that much.
Also, rugged smartphones and feature phones, designed for tough usage scenarios, are another category of mobile devices that have IP ratings specified. Rugged devices tend to have the highest level of Ingress protection possible.
Usually, if a device has no IP rating at all, IP ratings are totally excluded from its specs. It won’t be labelled as IP00. The IP rating is only included in the specs information when an official ingress protection is available.
Way back from the days of EPOC, Symbian, Palm, PocketPC/Windows Mobile, BlackBerry/BB10, webOS, Windows Phone, Firefox, Ubuntu Touch, to Android, iOS, and KaiOS operating systems, founder of MobilityArena, Mister Mobility, has owned a few hundred smartphones and tablets, and counting.