Electric and electronic equipment deteriorate or malfunction when water or dust enters the device.
In recent years, many consumers have taken an interest in smartphone features that include resilience against liquid and dust. However, it can be difficult to assess the meaning of terms such as waterproof or water-resistant when used for marketing purposes.
IP stands for ingress protection and it indicates how well a device is protected against water and dust. The first digit will be a number between 0-6 and indicates the degree of protection from ingress of solid objects (the user themselves, and other potentially harmful particulates such as dust or dirt). The second digit in an IP rating will be a number between 0-9, denoting the quality of resistance to moisture ingress at varying intensities, angles, depths and pressures of exposure or immersion. Generally, the higher the digit, the higher the protection. X means unknown or no data is available.
These ratings are widely used throughout industry for many products including waterproof sockets and switches, lighting, enclosures, cable joints to name a few.
