IPX rating: Is your device waterproof or water-resistant?

JBL Flip 4 is IPX7 rated Waterproof Portable Speaker, Jaybird Vista is IPX7 rated Earbud, Tozo T6 is IPX8 rated In-ear earbud. What is the common word between all these audio devices? Yes! You got me. It's the word IPX. But What is ipx and ipx rating?. Let's see.

While checking the specifications of any portable speaker or earbuds you often check its IPX rating. Is this that much important to check the ipx rating while purchasing speakers or headphones? Let's move further and see what is an ipx rating and why it is so important for you to check while buying Headphones or Speakers.

What is ipx rating?

IP means ingress protection or international protection whereas X is used for numbers. You might have seen the word ipxx many times. First, x is used for solid particles like dust or dirt. That first digit shows how capable your device is to handle dust, dirt, and other solid particles whereas the second x are used to show the protection against liquid.

In general higher the number better the level of protection. Numbers for the solid vary from 1 to 6 whereas for the liquid numbers vary from 1 to 8. For example, if an ipx rating for a device is IP68 that means the ingress protection level for that device is 6 for solid (dust, dirt, etc) and 8 for liquid.

It means that devices are highly protected against solid and liquid particles. Because 6 is the highest protection level against the solid particles and number 8 shows that the device is highly protected against liquid.

While purchasing any Audio device like Speaker or Headphones you must check its ipx rating and most importantly if you are looking for an earbud for a workout or thinking about buying an outdoor portable speaker then check ipx rating is more important.

Because we are discussing workout-friendly earbuds or outdoor speakers one question has stuck in my mind. Is your audio device waterproof or water-resistant? Yes! These two terms are completely different and one should not use them as synonyms of each other.

Waterproof VS Water resistant

Water-resistant: There are 3 levels of water protection. Water-resistant is the lowest level of protection against water. Water repellant is another level that spots on the second number. Water resistance means the device is built in such a way that it is hard for water to enter the device. The best example of a water-resistant device is a water-resistant watch. These watches are capable of standing with light rain showers.

Waterproof: Waterproof device means the device should not be affected by any contact with water or it should perform its function even if it comes in contact with water. Currently, there is no specific industry standard that determines whether a device is waterproof or not.

The only measure of the waterproofing ability of any device is its IPX rating. The ipx rating for the liquid or say water starts from 0 and the highest number is 8. For example, IPX0 means a device has 0 levels of protection against water, and IPX8 means the device will work fine even if it comes in contact with a certain amount of water.

Next time if you are thinking about purchasing any Outdoor Speaker or Earbud then check whether the device is waterproof or Water-resistant. don't get trapped in any marketing gimmicks.

While reviewing Headphones and Speakers I noticed one thing. most of the Speakers and Headphones have an ipx7 rating. Some examples of IPX7 rated audio devices are Bose SoundLink micro, Ultimate Ears BOOM 2, jbl pulse 3. The list does not end here but one question that arises in my mind is why most of the Audio devices have an ipx7 rating? Why not less than IPX7?

Though there is no industry standard is available to determine whether the device is waterproof or not but still we can predict about waterproofing ability of DEVICE up to some extent with the help of IP rating.

ipx7 rating is considered a good rating and if some device has below ipx7 rating then that device is not waterproof but you can say it is a water-resistant device. If any device manufacturer claims that their product is waterproof then you must cross-check their claim by checking the ipx rating of the product.

As I said Many audio devices are made with an ipx7 waterproof rating but there are some devices like the Tozo T6 which gives better waterproofing ability than is ipx8. ipx7 rating means the device can be immersed up to 1 meter deep in water for half an hour. Ipx8 is even better than ipx7 but what about the protection against the solid particles?

Though ipx8 is the best level of protection against liquid it does not give any idea about protection against solids like dust or dirt. For this reason, you need to check the ingress protection rating against solid as well as against liquid. check the below list for a better understanding.

This list will help you to choose the product according to your need. In general Audio devices that have ratings, ip66 or ip67 can be used for outdoor activities. let's see the list.

• ip60 rating- Protected from total dust ingress but not protected from liquid
• ip61 rating- Protected from total dust and condensation
• ip62 rating- Protected from total dust ingress and water sprays which is less than 15 degrees
• ip63 rating- Protected from total dust ingress and from water sprays which is less than 60 degrees from vertical
• ip64 rating- protected from total dust ingress and protected from water spray from any direction
• ip65 rating- protected from dust as well as from low pressure water jets
• ip66 rating- Protected from total dust ingress and high water jet sprays from any direction

From the above list, you can easily guess that an ipx66 rated device is more than enough for outdoor activities. A good example of an ip66 rated speaker is the Beach Bomb IP66 Waterproof Shockproof Portable Bluetooth Speaker by IJoy. I have seen many people get confused about using suitable earbuds especially when they go swimming. They want to carry speakers or earbuds with them but they don't know exactly what is the necessary ipx rating for swimming for their audio devices.

As I said you should not mix the words waterproof and water-resistant and also keep in mind that though ipx7 rated devices have good waterproofing ability they are not enough to take with you for swimming. A suitable ipx rating for swimming is ipx8 which allows you to submerge your device up to 3 meters in water.

Let's see ipx rating chart in detail

ipx rating chart

IP Rating chart for Solid

IP Rating Chart For Liquid

Reference Chart