Is IP68 Actually Waterproof?
No. IP68 means water resistant, tested once on a new device, to a depth and duration the manufacturer itself declares (IEC 60529 only requires "deeper than 1 meter"). It is not a permanent, unconditional "waterproof" guarantee — resistance is measured under lab conditions and can decrease with age, drops, and wear.
What the test actually measures
The IP68 immersion test submerges a new, factory-sealed unit in still fresh water to the manufacturer's declared depth for the declared duration — commonly 30 minutes, though this varies by product. It measures whether water ingress occurs during that single controlled test, not how the device performs after years of drops, charging cycles, and seal wear. See the exact per-product figures in the IP Rating Reality Index and the full digit definitions in the IP Code Decoder.
Why "water resistant" and "waterproof" are different claims
Apple and Samsung both describe their IP68-rated phones as "water resistant," never "waterproof," and both state in their own support documentation that this resistance is not a permanent condition. That distinction matters because it's also reflected in warranty policy — see Is Water Damage Covered by Warranty?
Frequently Asked Questions
No — IP68 means water RESISTANT to a manufacturer-declared depth and duration under lab conditions, not permanently waterproof. IEC 60529 only requires the '8' digit to mean deeper than 1 meter; the exact figure (1.5 meters for a Galaxy S24, 6 meters for an iPhone 15) is set by the manufacturer, tested once on a new unit, in still fresh water, for a limited time.
Because 'waterproof' implies permanent, unconditional protection, while an IP rating describes a single lab test on a new device. Apple and Samsung both use 'water resistant,' not 'waterproof,' in their own documentation, and both state that resistance is not a permanent condition and may decrease with normal wear.
No. Every IP68 test has a stated time limit — commonly 30 minutes to an hour depending on the manufacturer's declared figure — and going well beyond that time, depth, or using salt/chlorinated water instead of fresh water falls outside the tested and often the warrantied conditions.
See our IP Rating Reality Index, which aggregates the manufacturer-declared depth, duration, test medium, and warranty status for popular phones, earbuds, speakers, cases, and wearables in one comparable table.