IP Ratings Explained

Imagine you're shopping for a new phone or a watch, and you come across terms like 'IP68' or 'IP56' - ever wondered what they mean? Well, IP rating stands for Ingress Protection rating. IP ratings are like superpowers that tell us how resistant a device is to dust and water. The higher the number the better the protection! It's like a secret code that helps us choose gadgets that can handle various phenomena in the surroundings.

An IP rating is written as "IP" followed by 2 digits, with the first digit representing the gadget protection from solids such as tools & dust, and the second digit representing the gadget protection from liquids such as moisture or water. Let say an IP rating is "IP58" then 5 indicates the gadget protection from solids , and the 8 representing the gadget protection from liquids.

First digit of lies between 0 to 6 in some cases it is also written X while the second digit lies between 0 to 9  it is also written X.

Let take a arbitrary IP rating as "IP AB".

For A

• If A is 0 then it means the gadget has no protection against solids.
• If A is 1 then it indicates the gadget is protected against solid objects over 50mm, like hand.
• If A is 2 then it indicates the gadget is protected against solid objects over 12.5mm, like fingers.
• If A is 3 then it indicates the gadget is protected against solid objects over 2.5mm, like screw-driver.
• If A is 4 then it indicates the gadget is protected against solid objects over 1mm, like iron-nail.
• If A is 5 then it indicates the gadget is dust protected (Limited ingress of dust permitted).
• If A is 6 then it indicates the gadget is dust tight (No ingress of dust permitted).

For B

• If B is 0 then it means the gadget has no protection against liquids.
• If B is 1 then it indicates the gadget is protected against dripping of water.
• If B is 2 then it indicates the gadget is protected against dripping of water when tilted at 15°.
• If B is 3 then it indicates the gadget is protected against water falling as a spray at any angle upto 60°.
• If B is 4 then it indicates the gadget is protected against water splashing from any direction.
• If B is 5 then it indicates the gadget is protected against a low pressure jet of water.
• If B is 6 then it indicates the gadget is protected against a high pressure jet of water.
• If B is 7 then it indicates the gadget is protected within an immersion of 1m upto 30 minutes.
• If B is 8 then it indicates the gadget is protected within an immersion of 3m upto 30 minutes.
• If B is 9 then it indicates the gadget is protected in high pressure and high temperature jet of water.

Note: If any of the digit is written as X then it means the protection against solid/liquid is not measured.