IP Ratings Explained: What IP54, IP67 and IP68 Really Cover (Pixel 9a)
IP Ratings Explained: What IP54, IP67 and IP68 Really Cover explained, with the Pixel 9a's own measured figures as the worked example: an IP rating describes tested resistance to solids and liquids un...
Maya Okonkwo
In brief
Pixel 9a, display 6.3in OLED, 120Hz — IP Ratings Explained: What IP54, IP67 and IP68 Really Cover. Measured on hardware rather than argued from theory, on a device we rate for better battery life than the Pro.
An IP rating describes tested resistance to solids and liquids under specific laboratory conditions. It is not a warranty against water damage.
Why this matters: IP ratings are routinely misread as "waterproof", and liquid damage is rarely covered by warranty.
The mechanism
The first digit covers solids, the second liquids. IP54 means dust-protected and splash-resistant. IP67 adds immersion to one metre for thirty minutes. IP68 goes deeper, but the manufacturer defines the depth. Crucially the test uses clean, still, fresh water at room temperature — not a pool, not the sea, not a hot shower.
What you actually notice
Take the Pixel 9a as a worked example. In daylight we struggled to tell its photographs from the 9 Pro. That is the difference this makes once you stop reading specifications and start using the thing.
| Specification | Pixel 9a |
|---|---|
| Display | 6.3in OLED, 120Hz |
| Chip | Tensor G4 |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Battery | 5100mAh |
| Charging | 23W wired |
| Weight | 186g |
| Screen-on time | 7h 05m |
The same concept across four devices
One worked example is an anecdote. Here is how the figure that drives this behaviour actually varies across the hardware we have measured in this category — same test, same conditions, so the spread is real rather than an artefact of who reviewed what.
| Model | Display | Price | Our score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pixel 9a | 6.3in OLED, 120Hz | £499 | 5 / 5 |
| Pixel 9 Pro | 6.3in LTPO OLED, 120Hz | £999 | 4 / 5 |
| iPhone 16 Pro | 6.3in LTPO OLED, 120Hz | £1099 | 4 / 5 |
| Galaxy S25 Ultra | 6.9in LTPO AMOLED, 120Hz | £1249 | 4 / 5 |
Where the line sits
It helps to have a number in mind before you start comparing. Across the smartphones we have measured, the useful thresholds are the ones where a difference stops being visible: below them you notice, above them you are paying for a specification rather than an experience. The Pixel 9a reports 6.3in OLED, 120Hz for display, which sits comfortably on the right side of that line, and Tensor G4 for chip. Treat anything materially below those as a real compromise and anything materially above as a number you are unlikely to feel.
Myths worth dropping
- IP68 means you can swim with it
- The rating lasts the life of the device, when seals degrade
- A higher second digit covers everything the lower one does in every case
How to verify this at home
- Reproduce the conditions rather than trusting a one-off reading — run the same task three times and take the average.
- Note the figure your device reports and the figure it actually achieves; on the Pixel 9a those diverge under sustained load.
- Change one variable at a time. Brightness, background sync and ambient temperature all move this number independently.
- Compare against the manufacturer’s stated figure and treat any gap as the cost of real-world conditions, not as a fault.
- Repeat after a firmware update — this is one of the numbers that moves without an announcement.
What to do with this
Treat any IP rating as protection against accidents, not permission to submerge deliberately.
IP ratings describe a lab test, not your bathroom.
Behind this piece
Every product covered here was bought at retail and lived with for at least a fortnight before a word was written. Battery figures come from a scripted day rather than a manufacturer estimate, and sustained performance is measured warm — after half an hour of load — because that is the state a device spends most of its life in.
Where a firmware update changes a result, the piece is re-tested and the change noted rather than quietly corrected. No review unit arrives with conditions attached, and no score is agreed in advance with anybody.
Where to go next
If you are weighing this against the rest of the smartphones we have covered, the category archive lists every review in date order. The closest comparisons we have published are IP Ratings Explained: What IP54, IP67 and IP68 Really Cover (Xiaomi 15 Ultra) and IP Ratings Explained: What IP54, IP67 and IP68 Really Cover (iPhone 16 Pro).
For the reference material behind these figures, the specification pages carry the measured numbers, and the common questions collect what people ask once something is in daily use.
