Applied material about waterproofness and resistance of gadgets to external influences.
It's great to be a technology lover these days. Remembering smartphones released in 2016, we can conclude that the only problem was the choice: almost every device could be called cool. In fact, many of the new products in 2016 had similar characteristics: a Snapdragon 820 processor, a display with a diagonal of about 5.5 ″, a metal and / or glass body, fingerprint sensors. Also, it is already possible to abandon the term “smartphone” and call them simply mobile phones, now the overwhelming number of phones are “smart”.
Interestingly, high standards across the smartphone market (and in the consumer electronics industry as a whole) have made customer picky a must-have in the selection process. If we have to compare modern smartphones by contrast, then we need to ignore the characteristics and “get a magnifying glass”. As such, the fundamental features of a smartphone or its distinguishing features are often not included in the specification sheet. In 2016, one of these parameters was IP ratings, which demonstrate the performance of the device's protection against water and dust.
Let's consider the table of indicators in detail to get an understanding of the meaning of a particular indicator.
What is IP Rating?
Many users talk about IP ratings, but at the same time they do not realize that they do not know the decoding of the abbreviation itself, so before moving on to the rating system, let's turn to this obvious question. When we talk about IP rating, we do not mean the following concepts of 'internet protocols', 'intellectual property', 'inqusitive pigeons' or any other unrelated acronyms. The abbreviation we need stands for 'ingress protection'. Thus, the IP rating should be understood as the degree of protection of the device case against the penetration of water and solid particles into it.
How to read the IP score
If you look at the IP indicator for any gadget, you will see a two-digit number. Those familiar with the rating system can understand the level of protection against water and dust by numbers, or rather, by the characteristics that they indicate. The first digit (left) indicates protection against solid particles, the second indicates protection against liquid ingress.
As you can see from the above table, the number for dust protection can vary from 0 to 6, where 0 means minimal or no protection, and 6 means almost complete protection. For water resistance, the range of ratings is slightly wider, so the second digit in the rating is in the range from 0 to 8. The interpretation of this characteristic coincides with the given scale for dust resistance. Let's look at some examples. Smartphones iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus entered the market with an IP67 rating, which means a decent level of protection of devices from water and dust. The first digit (6) means that the housing iPhone 7 retains all dust and small particles. But since the main concern is water ingress, the second number is usually the most important. Fortunately for iPhone 7 and 7Plus owners, their devices can withstand full submersion in water for a short time. iPhone 7 is able to 'survive' by remaining under a meter of water for 30 minutes. While product lovers Apple are enjoying their newfound waterproofness, Google has released the Pixel and Pixel XL with an IP53 rating.
As you can imagine, this is a reliable, but not one hundred percent guarantee of protection from dust and very weak protection from water. As for the latter parameter, Pixel devices are said to withstand water droplets falling vertically on the device at an angle of 60 degrees. This is certainly better than no protection at all, but the owners of Pixel are still unhappy with the lack of a good level of protection from external influences.
Why is IP rating important?
Finally, let's think about the importance of having a Defense Rating. There will always be those who do not care about water resistance and dust resistance, and they can be understood: there are users who, by themselves, use devices carefully and are in no hurry to introduce them to water. But it all boils down to one thing – device durability. 
Historically, electronic devices have had many 'enemies', including water, dust, falls, theft, and so on. There are many scenarios that ultimately leave the user with nothing but the memory of an expensive purchase. Luckily for us, there are technologies like Gorilla Glass. as well as the opportunity to purchase special insurance to repair and extend the 'life' of gadgets, but the water has remained kryptonite for smartphones. Therefore, if we see a strong IP rating, then in the future it will be able to give the user confidence in the safety of the device and extend the life of the latter. We no longer need to worry about whether it is dangerous to talk on the phone in the rain or grab hold of our hearts after accidentally dropping the device into the toilet (the issue of cleanliness is a separate issue). Instead, we can worry less and have more fun with the gadget. Do you consider protection from external influences a significant parameter or do not look at this characteristic when buying a device? Original material by Dane O'Leary