As a premium priced device, it’s a bit surprising that the brand new Google Pixel is severely lacking when it comes to its ability to withstand dust and water. In fact, the Google Pixel only sports an IP53 rating which means that it technically isn’t designed to even withstand splashes of water.
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Per the Ingress Protection (IP) chart, here’s how the Google Pixel stands up.
It has a level 5 rating against solids which means: “Ingress of dust is not entirely prevented, but it must not enter in sufficient quantity to interfere with the satisfactory operation of the equipment; complete protection against contact.” With respect to liquids, it has a rating of 3 which means: Water falling as a spray at any angle up to 60° from the vertical shall have no harmful effect.”
Put simply, you’ll definitely want to avoid taking your brand new Pixel into the shower or even bringing it anywhere near water without a protective case.
All that said, some real world testing suggests that the Google Pixel may be more water resistant than its paltry IP rating would otherwise suggest.
In a video posted to YouTube this week, we see a Google Pixel submerged under water for 30 minutes. Impressively — relative to its IP rating — the device survived the submersion and appeared to be functioning just fine.
Now we still wouldn’t recommend anyone try this at home, but Pixel owners might take solace in the fact that a little bit of rain won’t wreak havoc on their device.
