IP68 is arguably the most valued and easily overlooked feature in mobile phones. Usually, whether it is game photos or simple chat videos, you can't seem to touch this function, but if you really accidentally drop your phone into the water, you understand the importance of IP68. Therefore, it seems that IP68 has become the "standard" of the flagship machine, and the mobile phone without waterproof function seems to be far away from the high-end name, and even Samsung, which has a complex structure of folding mobile phones, has been equipped with IP68-level waterproof and dustproof.
So the question is, why only flagship machines are willing to put on IP protection, can they protect your mobile phone?
01What IP protection? Let's be clear about it
First of all, the word IP is derived from the abbreviation of International Protection, and the next two Arabic numerals represent the ability to protect "solid" and "liquid". The first mark number indicates the contact and foreign object protection level, the second mark number indicates the waterproof protection level, and the meaning of IP68 is that its certified equipment has passed the TEST of IP6 and IP8 respectively, that is, no dust ingress and water flooding can be protected.
Liquid permeation protection (source Wikipedia)
"If a phone has IP67 protection. That is to say, without destroying the shell, 6 means that the mobile phone can completely protect the internal circuit from dust intrusion; 7 means that the mobile phone can give the internal parts no less than 30 minutes of protection time when immersed in water no more than 1m deep (does not mean that there is no water entering the interior at all). ”
However, this does not mean that your phone can be soaked in water: take the iPhone 12 Pro series of phones, for example, under the product page of Apple's official website, it is written: "Tested under controlled laboratory conditions, the effect reached IP68 under iec 60529 standard (up to 30 minutes under the deepest 6 meters of water). ”
Therefore, even in a perfect laboratory environment, the mobile phone can only resist the invasion of water to a certain extent, and it cannot be truly waterproof.
Then, in the details of the iec 60529 test standards, we can find that these tests have additional strict variable control. In addition to the way, direction, distance and pressure of the mobile phone contact water, the test even has strict requirements for ambient temperature, air pressure and air humidity. Of course, the most important thing, and the difficult to satisfy in daily life, is the water itself – it must be "clean" water.
IEC 60529 regulations on water
This means that the "unclean" waters such as tea, beverages, coffee, hot pot soup bases, seawater and mineral water in daily life, and waters with extreme temperatures that may be extreme are not considered in the IP rating.
02 Waterproof mobile phone can be washed without problems?
From the perspective of test methods, IP68's dustproof and waterproof can protect against continuous water ingress, which is actually the most related to daily use scenarios. Imagine that the threat of water droplets to the earpiece under conditions such as accidentally overturning the water cup on the desktop, wet hands, music demand when taking a shower, or watching with a mobile phone in the bath are all functional coverage of THE IP68-level dustproof and waterproof model.
At the same time, for dust protection, even if the mobile phone is submerged in the sand, it can be safe and sound. To some extent, IP68 is an insurance for the daily use of mobile phones. Of course, for some brand manufacturers in the press conference to promote the whole machine immersion underwater shooting, we really look at it.
But there is also a problem here is that with the use of mobile phones, it will inevitably bring about external wear and tear and the aging of the internal waterproof structure, which will naturally make the protective effect greatly reduced; not to mention that the repair and replacement of the mobile phone will also destroy the encapsulation effect, so as not to reach the protection level when advertised. So you can understand why manufacturers will only "point out" that their own devices have protective effects, but will never deepen the memory of users through brainwashing marketing.
Image from Apple's official website
What's more, if your phone really gets water, the manufacturer can not promise to repair it for you: taking the iPhone as an example, Apple clearly indicates on its official website that the damage caused by the iPhone or iPod due to immersion in water and other liquids is not covered by the warranty.
03 So "chicken ribs" of waterproof and dustproof why only the flagship standard?
Although this IP protection seems to be quite restrictive and not very commonly used, it is still not a simple thing to make the mobile phone pass this certification smoothly. At present, the waterproof materials of smart phones are roughly divided into four kinds: sealant, rubber ring, waterproof film and nano coating, but in the specific protection implementation method, structural waterproofing is the foundation of waterproof and dustproof methods.
Waterproof rubber ring
Structural waterproofing improves the tightness by simplifying the fuselage structure and reducing the splicing, and then improves the waterproof ability with rubber rings and waterproof glue. The flagship machine has a sealing rubber ring in the back shell, screen and card slot of the mobile phone, which can not only block dust but also resist the intrusion of liquids to a certain extent. However, from its principle, it is not difficult to find that the mobile phone bumps and wears, which is very easy to make the seal fail, so many manufacturers will also use nano waterproof technology.
Nano waterproof technology, or nano coating. Mainly suitable for key components such as motherboards. Due to the hydrophobic nature of the waterproof coating, water droplets do not adsorb for a long time but will condense and flow down, thereby reducing the risk of component damage. But such coatings are ultimately polymers that adhere to the surface of the phone, and wear and tear will occur as the time of use increases.
At the same time, the above protective measures, whether it is a waterproof coating or a closed rubber ring, will reduce the protective effect when facing corrosive liquids such as seawater, soap and detergents. It can be seen that the IP68 function of the flagship machine is not only expensive to manufacture, but also its comprehensive protection effect is also somewhat "laborious and undesirable", it is more like a flagship machine "advanced sense" of the gift, whether it is manufacturing cost or its publicity attributes, IP68 needs a certain cost support.
04 written at the end
In general, IP68 represents a high-specification process and precision design, and naturally there is a high cost behind it, which coincides with the positioning of the flagship model. As a user of high-priced flagship machines, there is a deeper demand for mobile phone protection, which are the reasons why IP68 is gradually popular but only exists on flagship models.
In the face of most use cases, it can be said that the protection effect of IP68 is qualified. But this kind of protection, more like an additional insurance, the so-called "waterproof splash does not let go of the cheap", everyone in the daily use, it is best to treat this function as a "small surprise" rather than nothing "wash a wash", may be the best destination for IP protection.
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