Smartphones are built with durability in mind, using everything from Gorilla Glass coverings to protective rubber seals to keep the devices in working order. A decade ago, if you accidentally dropped an Android phone or iPhone into a pool, there was a good chance it would stop working. Do the same today with a leading iPhone or Android flagship, and it’ll probably be fine. However, this leads to blind faith in a device’s water-resistance capabilities — and that can be more dangerous than the liquid itself.

By now, it’s commonly understood that no phone is completely waterproof. Even phones with high International Protection (IP) ratings are only rated for submersion at a certain depth for a certain amount of time. Plus, they’re tested for freshwater protection. Drop your phone in a chlorine pool or a saltwater body, and it may not fare as well as you expect. More importantly, water-resistance ratings aren’t permanent conditions. Your phone’s water-resistant seals wear down every day you use it, diminishing its ability to withstand liquids over time.

What your phone’s IP rating tells you

It’s a grade of a device’s ingress protection against dust and/or liquid

You’ve probably seen an IP rating list the dust resistance or water resistance of a device before. IP ratings contain two parts, with the first number identifying a device’s dust-resistance capabilities and the second number representing its water-resistance capabilities. For example, a device with an IP68 rating meets the level 6 threshold for dust resistance and the level 8 threshold for water resistance.

A number can be substituted for an X to symbolize it hasn’t been tested for either dust or water resistance. In this case, an IPX8 device signals it hasn’t been tested for protection against dust ingress, but it has met the level 8 threshold for water resistance. If you aren’t familiar with IP ratings, this chart lists each possible water-resistance number and the capabilities of each tier:

The three common IP ratings you’ll see are IP67, IP68, and IP69. All three are dustproof and have some level of water-resistance against physical submersion in water. However, the amount of depth and time a device can withstand underwater varies. In addition to submersion resistance, phones that meet the IP69 threshold can handle high-temperature, high-pressure water jets — like from a dishwasher. That said, you shouldn’t let an IP rating give you too much confidence.

Why you can’t blindly trust an IP rating

IP ratings only certify water-resistance out of the box — this degrades over time

Credit: Brady Snyder / MakeUseOf

IP ratings are helpful in understanding how much water a device can withstand from the factory. However, many smartphone buyers forget that water resistance isn’t a permanent condition. It degrades over time, kind of like your battery. Every drop can limit your phone’s water resistance. A drop that doesn’t physically shatter your phone could still cause micro-cracks or weaken the rubber seals that keep water out. Even those that take excellent care of their phone will find that it isn’t as water-resistant a few years down the line as it was brand new.

Time is also a silent killer. The rubber gaskets and waterproof adhesives tasked with protecting your phone’s internal components against liquid dry out over time, causing them to become brittle. They can loosen or begin to disintegrate, weakening the device’s water-resistance protection. If you do crack or repair your device, the water-resistance capabilities will never be the same. Quality repair technicians will replace the seals and glue, but it won’t match the original water resistance you enjoyed out of the box.

In simple terms, your phone’s IP rating tells you how water-resistant it is the second you unbox it for the first time. After that, it begins to degrade. There’s no telling how long it might take for a specific phone to lose its water-resistance features, because this varies on a case-by-case basis. Read the fine print and your phone’s manufacturer will tell you the exact same thing — your phone’s IP rating isn’t permanent.

In a support document, Apple explains that an iPhone’s water resistance might decrease over time:

Supported models are splash, water, and dust resistant and were tested under controlled laboratory conditions with a rating of either IP68 or IP67 under IEC standard 60529. Splash, water, and dust resistance are not permanent conditions and resistance might decrease as a result of normal wear. Liquid damage not covered under warranty.

Samsung has a similar support document with a critical disclaimer, too: “Water resistance is not permanent and may decrease over time due to wear, damage, or improper handling.”

Google explains the water-resistance capabilities of Pixel phones better than perhaps any other manufacturer, if only in the fine print of a blog post. Here’s what it says:

Designed to comply with dust and water protection rating IP68 under IEC standard 60529 when each device leaves the factory, but the device is not waterproof or dustproof. The accessories are not water or dust resistant. Water resistance and dust resistance are not permanent conditions, and will diminish or be lost over time due to normal wear and tear, device repair, disassembly or damage. Phone is not drop/tumble proof and dropping your device may result in loss of water/dust resistance. Damage from drops, tumbles and other external forces are not covered under the Limited Warranty, and liquid damage voids the Limited Warranty, but you may still have certain rights available to you under applicable consumer law. See g.co/pixel/water for details.

It’s the clearest explanation of smartphone water resistance from a manufacturer yet. It hits all the key points: phones are only designed to comply with the IP68 standard when they leave the factory, water-resistance is not a permanent condition, it will degrade over time, and drops may preemptively cause loss of water-resistance.

Don’t treat phones like they’re waterproof

Even the most durable smartphones can succumb to liquid damage

Credit: Brady Snyder / MakeUseOf

From the outside, it’s impossible to know the state of a phone’s water-resistant seals. A phone could be a few weeks old and lack true water-resistance because of drops it already suffered in its early days. Or, a phone could be years old and still maintain most of its water resistance. Since you can’t know for sure, caution is the right approach.

It’s a mistake to look at a phone’s IP68 or IP69 rating and decide to take it into a pool or lake. These devices are not fully waterproof, and they might not even have reliable water-resistance levels at the time you submerge them. This is why each manufacturer, including Apple, Samsung, and Google, warn that water-resistance capabilities are not permanent. Warranties exclude liquid damage, even for phones with IP ratings.

So, it’s best to look at IP ratings as an extra layer of protection against liquid damage in an accident. Rely on them for anything more than that, and you could learn the hard way that water-resistant phones don’t stay that way forever.

Brand

OnePlus

SoC

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite

Display

6.8-inch LTPO 4.1 AMOLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR Vivid, 4500 nits

RAM

12/16GB

Storage

256, 512, 1TB

Battery

6,000mAh

The OnePlus 13 succeeds through meaningful refinements rather than revolutionary changes, fixing key issues from the OnePlus 12 with better ergonomics, consistently good cameras, and exceptional two-day battery life from its 6000mAh cell. It has an IP69 water-resistance rating that protects against dust and water ingress, including high temperature and pressure jets.