IP rating
An international standard (IEC 60529) that describes how well an enclosure resists solid particles and water. Two digits: first for dust, second for water. IP68 phones, for example, are dust-tight and survive immersion up to a defined depth.
An IP rating ("Ingress Protection") tells you what a device's enclosure can resist. It's defined by the IEC 60529 standard and always has two digits.
How to read the digits
First digit — solids (0–6):
- 5 — dust-protected (some ingress permitted, won't affect operation)
- 6 — dust-tight (no ingress)
Second digit — water (0–9):
- 4 — splashes from any direction
- 5 — water jets from a nozzle
- 6 — powerful water jets (close-range, e.g. a pressure washer)
- 7 — immersion up to 1 m for 30 minutes
- 8 — immersion beyond 1 m (manufacturer specifies depth and duration)
- 9 — high-temperature, high-pressure jets (e.g. industrial steam cleaning)
So IP68 = dust-tight, survives deep immersion. IP69 = dust-tight, also survives high-pressure steam — the most extreme common consumer rating.
What IP ratings don't cover
- Pool/sea water: Chlorine and salt damage gaskets. IP68 doesn't promise the device survives swimming, even if some marketing implies it.
- Long-term aging: Gasket compression and adhesive bonds degrade. A 5-year-old IP68 phone is not as resistant as it was at launch.
- Soap, alcohol, oil: None of these are pure water, and they all attack different parts of the seal differently.
If you swim with your phone, the Galaxy S26 Ultra (IP68) and OnePlus 15 (IP69) are both rated for it on paper — but the conservative move is to put it in a waterproof case.
How to use IP rating in a real comparison
An international standard (IEC 60529) that describes how well an enclosure resists solid particles and water. Two digits: first for dust, second for water. IP68 phones, for example, are dust-tight and survive immersion up to a defined depth. In practice, this is most useful as one part of a decision rather than a standalone quality badge. Compare it alongside the workload, room, ecosystem, budget, and ownership constraints that apply to you; the strongest published figure is not automatically the best outcome for every buyer.
What to check next
On vsMars, read together so the value has product-specific context. It is especially relevant in .
Avoid the one-number trap
Manufacturers can describe the same capability under different conditions. Compare like-for-like variants, check the unit and test condition where available, and use a head-to-head page to see whether a measurable difference is material for your own use.
vsMars presents structured catalog values to make trade-offs legible. The linked product and spec pages are the right place to inspect the underlying values before buying.