OnePlus’ Pete Lau has no faith in IP rating

Pete Lau questions the IP68 rating of the OnePlus 9 Pro, among others, and argues that an IP rating is not as reliable as you might think.

OnePlus co-founder Pete Lau does not believe so much in the IP rating of smartphones, he says on Weibo. The rating gives a guarantee of water and dust resistance, but Lau doesn’t need to hear about that. Even if the Chinese brand, for example, gives the OnePlus 9 Pro an IP68 certificate; then the question is how reliable that is.

Pete Lau speaks out against IP rating

To take the OnePlus 9 Pro as an example. As our review shows, there are a lot of features that the brand can be proud of. Okay, there are some issues with the processor, but it’s an impressive smartphone nonetheless. Still, you may have noticed that the brand barely flaunts the IP68 rating.

According to Lau, this has everything to do with the unreliability of that certificate, he says on the Chinese social medium (via AndroidAuthority). Although we had to translate his statement with Google, it seems clear where his doubts are today.

The IP68 water resistance is assessed within a laboratory environment, or a “product test” under specific, extreme conditions that conform to a standardized process.

However, since the actual conditions of users are very different, it is impossible to pass the “test” by laboratory standards every time. Therefore, even if a device has a high rating, it is not recommended to flaunt it during marketing.

Pete Lau on IP rating

Of course Lau is absolutely right about the nuance of an IP rating. The test conditions are very specific. In real life, the rating ‘falling water as spray from an angle of 60 degrees has no negative effect’ doesn’t really give much certainty. On the other hand, you know that an IP68 device can withstand a few drops. You know that an appliance without a rating will not be machine washable. It’s a good guideline and that’s why Lau doesn’t see it as a feature that needs a lot of marketing.