Yes!! You can go swimming with your phone but the million dollar question here is, Would you have no fears when taking a snap by the pool? or Would you place your phone by the pool and still have no worries? This article clearly gives an in depth answer to the above questions. The water proof feature is becoming a must have feature in most premium smartphones and this article will give you a clear understanding of which phones can withstand immersion in water and which ones are just splash resistant.
Even if you have a waterproof phone there are still some precautions you need to keep in mind which will be stated at the end of this article. So make sure you don’t miss that out. But first let’s first get one thing right.
For decades electronic devices and water have not been in any good relationship. Whenever you had purchased a phone, you literally had to purchase an external case in order to physically protect it, should it fall in a pool of water or probably a jug of your favorite juice. Despite the protection given, it could end up making it bulky and uncomfortable to carry around. And definitely no body likes carrying around a bulky phone. Or Maybe am the only one!!!
As technology progressed phone manufacturer found a way to still maintain the slimness of the phone and still protect it against water ingress. And that’s when the Ingress Protection rating started being incorporated in premium smartphones. So, what is an Ingress Protection rating or short an IP rating?
What is an IP rating?
IP stands for Ingress Protection. An IP rating is a code that signifies or shows how much resistant your device is to either water or dust ingress for a certain period of time. This code is usually somewhere on the user manual of that particular phone.
Every device or phone has an IP rating and the current maximum is IP68. You now know that IP stands for Ingress Protection but you may or may not know that the 6 stands for total protection against solid ingress like dust or dirt and 8 stands for total protection against water ingress submerged at a depth of 1.5 metres for about 30 minutes. And our main emphasis in here is on the latter number which shows how waterproof a device is!!
Waterproof phones
It is the second digit of the IP rating that shows how water proof a phone is!! Most Waterproof phones come with an IP rating of IP67, IPX8 or IP68. As mentioned earlier it is the second number that shows its resistance to water so literally with IPX8 which is mostly associated with Samsung’s foldables has NO proven resistant against solid ingress like dirt but you can flip out your foldable under rain and take a snap. With no worries of course. Anything below 7 on the second digit of the IP rating then your phone cannot withstand complete immersion in water other than maybe some light splashes. Both IP67 and IP68 phones can be submerged in water for half an hour but the difference is in the depth they could be submerged in water. A phone with IP67 rating can be submerged to a depth of approximately 3.3 feet or about a meter deep meanwhile with an IP68 rating the phone can be submerged a bit deeper up-to 5 feet or about 1.5 metres deep.
Water proof Vs Water resistant
Waterproof phones are those with mainly IP67 and IP68 and also Samsung’s IPX8 and these phones can withstand a full immersion in water meanwhile water resistant phones also known as splash proof are designed with a nano coating that can handle exposure to light liquids such as light rains, sweat, splashes or just quick spills.
You definitely won’t get the splash proof phones in our list of top water proof phones but as a take home note most phones by Motorola, Nokia, Tecno, and a couple of Oneplus phones are only just splash proof. So never try to immerse them in water unless you are tired of your phone of course.
To know exactly whether your device is water proof you will have to first check it’s Ingress Protection rating. Only companies taking the lead in producing water proof phones are Samsung and Apple. Google, Xiaomi, OnePlus and Oppo are some of the other companies.
Here is a list of the latest waterproof phones
Top waterproof phones released in 2022
All Apple’s iPhone 14 models have a high quality l waterproof feature though we are giving the crown to the iPhone 14 Pro Max which can be submerged up to 20 feet deep. Mind blowing!! Right?
Other top phones released in 2022 that are on the list are; the Samsung Galaxy S22 ultra, Google Pixel 6 Pro, Xiaomi 12S Ultra, One plus 10 Pro, Samsung Galaxy Z fold 4 and Z Flip 4.
Note; These are not all the best waterproof phones but rather some of the latest phones on the market that withstand immersion in water and mostly with an IP rating of IP68. The best way to find out if your phone is waterproof is to check it’s Ingress Protection rating on the phone Manuel.
Still though we have put together a list of recent phone releases that have the best waterproof feature
Best Water proof phones 2022
- Apple iPhone 14 series
- Samsung Galaxy S22 series
- Vivo X80 Pro
- Samsung Galaxy S21 FE
- Apple iPhone SE
- Sony Xperia 1 IV
- Xiaomi 12S Ultra
- OnePlus 10 Pro
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4
- Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4
- Google Pixel 6 series
Even if your phone is water proof there are still some things you have to know.
Precautions
There is no such thing as a phone that is completely waterproof. If there is, then we still yet to find out. The Ingress Protection rating is not a complete assurance that your phone won’t have problems in case it is submerged in water but rather it was put as a measure to reduce chances of a phone getting spoilt should it accidentally fall in a pool of water.
Remember that most manufacturers of such devices don’t provide a warranty in scenario a phone gets damaged due to water.Besides waterproof phones don’t have protection against the chlorine in a swimming pool or even the salt in sea water which could slowly erode the rubber seals that protect these phones making them less waterproof in the long run.
Just a simple advice
Having a water proof gives you a piece of mind in case of an accident such as phone falling to the bottom of pool. But this feature should not be misused and taken to extreme ends of over doing it because as mentioned earlier no phone yet is completely waterproof but this was put as feature in case of an accident.
