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The letters IP stand for Ingress Protection, that is, the ability to prevent elements such as sand and water from entering and damaging electronics. The character after IP (eg IP67 or IPX7) indicates the degree of protection provided. You will often see these ratings in product advertisements, retail packaging, and product reviews, including TechHive.
You may see that IP is defined as an “internationally protected” class in some documents on the web, mainly because the standard is defined by the International Electronics Commission (specifically IEC 60529, you can download a copy from this link). Because I made this mistake, readers called me and asked IEC directly. While the IEC representatives I contacted didn’t explicitly say that IP stands for “ingress protection”, they did say that “ingress protection” is the most appropriate name. So, penetration protection.
Many portable Bluetooth speakers are IP57 rated. The first number indicates the size of foreign objects (such as particles such as dust) that will be rejected, and the second number indicates the object’s resistance to liquid penetration. Replacing any of these numbers with “X” (the first, most common) does not mean that it does not provide protection from the elements, just that the manufacturer did not give it a specific rating. More on this later.
There are six values against particles and eight against liquids, so the highest rating is IP68.
Please note that the inches above are approximate for readability. In addition, these are low-speed effects. An IP rating in no way means that a device is bulletproof or anything like that.
The Sonos Move smart speaker is rated IP56, which indicates that it can withstand a pressure washer jet at a reasonable distance and is dust resistant.
3: Protected against water sprayed from both sides in a vertical direction at a maximum angle of 60 degrees. (baby with hose)
4: Water splash protection from any direction has no effect. (naughty child with a hose)
5: Protected against splashing water from any direction. (child holding garden hose with sprinkler screwed on)
6: Protection against water sprayed by powerful jets from any direction (high pressure washer at a reasonable distance)
7: Withstands immersion in one meter (about 3.3 feet) of water for 30 minutes. (falling into a toilet, bathtub or shallow end of a pool)
8: Withstands immersion in water up to a depth of three meters (approximately 9.8 feet) for a specified time specified by IEC. (fall into the depths of the pool, near the shore, etc.)
In fact, only products that can be used near open water are usually IPX8 rated. These ratings are not ironclad in the real world. Your brand new IPX7 rated device can withstand being submerged three meters from the bottom of the pool when you take it out of the box, but it can last 10 minutes or even just a minute after the rigors of everyday use.
You will rarely see letters after the first two characters in an IP rating, but they do exist:
The Sony SRS-XB32 is IP67 rated, which means you can play in the pool, but not underwater.
As for the logic behind replacing the first letter with an X: if the device is waterproof, it is also protected from particles such as sand or dust. Therefore, some vendors rely on the common sense of their customers to avoid the expense of non-liquid invasiveness testing. That’s why ratings like IPX7 are pretty common.
As mentioned earlier, protection against physical objects does not mean that the device is strong enough to withstand a strong impact, or that its internal electronics are shockproof to provide the same type of protection. However, the type of construction required for IP testing (not to mention the target audience) often requires your outdoor speakers to be rugged enough to withstand occasional rough handling. This is not a guarantee, so don’t test the theory by dropping a truck on your device. And this characteristic certainly does not include devices such as vulnerable smartphones.
Bottom line: higher numbers mean better chances of survival, but you have to consider the intended role of any device. When it comes to loudspeakers, the materials and technology required to achieve high IP ratings make it difficult to deliver top-notch audio quality. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but listen and don’t buy anything based on IP rating alone.
It’s also worth noting that IP ratings are an indicator of what’s hot and sexy right now. You may also come across NEMA (National Electronics Manufacturers Association) ratings that cover more case types and scenarios. This is beyond the scope of this article, but you can read about the standard at this link.
John Jacobi is a musician, former x86/6800 programmer and longtime computer enthusiast. He writes reviews for TVs, SSDs, DVRs, remote access software, Bluetooth speakers, and a variety of other home appliance hardware and software.
Post time: Mar-01-2023