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once upon a time, waterproofing of mobile phones was an exclusive skill for flagship phones and a few outdoor phones. it was a means for high-end flagship phones to promote their excellent workmanship. of course, from a cost perspective, only the high premium of flagship phones can afford the additional cost introduced by the waterproof design.

however, in recent years, as waterproof technology has matured, more and more mobile phone brands have begun to apply waterproof technology to mid-range and even entry-level mobile phones. even in terms of waterproofing levels, brands are no longer satisfied with the "traditional" ip67 and ip68.for example, the oppo a3 pro released by oppo a few months ago passed the ip69 test; the oppo find x8 to be released next is also rumored to meet the same protection standard.

image source: apple

so the question is, we have seen a lot of ip67 and ip68, but what is ip69?

ip69 dustproof and waterproof: add one to the number and double the difficulty

although less commonly used, ip69 is also part of the ip certification system.

we know that the ip rating consists of two numbers, the first number indicates the dust resistance level and the second number indicates the water resistance level. the "6" in the common ip67 and ip68 means that the device is completely dust-proof and it is almost impossible for dust to enter the inside of the device; "7" and "8" respectively indicate that the device is resistant to water immersion in still water of a certain depth.

image source: polycase

the "9" in ip69 means that the device can maintain waterproof performance in a high-pressure water flow environment and can withstand the impact of water flow from different angles.specifically, the ip69 rating stipulates that equipment must be able to withstand high-pressure water flow from different directions.during the test, the water flow pressure was as high as 80-100 bar, and the water temperature was normal. the equipment must continue to maintain good waterproofing effects in this environment.

in the oppo a3 pro review, i fixed the phone on the roof of the car and drove it into an automatic car wash. the test was the phone's ability to resist the impact of water flow. different from ip68, which uses static water pressure, ip69 has stricter requirements for the waterproof structure of mobile phones, and also covers more scenarios in daily life that can easily lead to water intrusion into mobile phones.

image source: niteize

for example, many users of waterproof mobile phones have the habit of "washing their mobile phones". they may be to quickly dissipate heat from the phone, or they may be to flush away an accidentally spilled drink from the phone. however, the impact of the faucet may exceed the upper limit of ip68 protection in some cases, and mobile phone receivers, charging interfaces and other locations are also prone to water intrusion during flushing. if the phone passes the ip69 test, there will be no concerns in this regard.

although ip69 is already an "uncommon" standard, there is still an even more "unpopular" standard in ip ratings than ip69 - ip69k.

simply put, ip69k is an extended standard of ip69, specifically designed for high temperature and high pressure environments. in addition to ip69 protection capabilities, ip69k also requires equipment to withstand the impact of high-temperature and high-pressure water flow. the ip69k standard stipulates that equipment must be able to withstand high-temperature water flow of 80 degrees celsius and high-pressure jets of 80 to 100 bar on the surface of the equipment from different angles. for comparison, ip69's requirement for water temperature is normal temperature not exceeding 30 degrees celsius.

image source: agm

this standard is mainly applied to industrial equipment that requires frequent cleaning, such as kitchen appliances, construction machinery, etc. its original design is to ensure that the equipment can still maintain protective performance under extreme cleaning conditions. but this does not mean that ip69k only exists in industrial equipment. the agm x6 that xiaolei has experienced before is a rugged smartphone that has passed the ip69k test.

changing the soup but not the medicine, ip69 technology has not changed qualitatively

then again, many mobile phones on the market have achieved ip68 or higher level waterproof testing. it can be said that the entire industry is making progress. but if we think about it from the perspective of mobile phone waterproof technology, there is no essential change in the waterproof technology of mobile phones.

smartphone waterproofing technology mainly relies on two methods: physical sealing and waterproof coating.physical sealing uses rubber rings or silicone pads on the interfaces, gaps and other parts of the mobile phone to prevent moisture from penetrating. it is often used in speakers, charging ports and other places that are susceptible to intrusion.

the waterproof coating uses nano-coating to cover the circuit board and components of the mobile phone to form a waterproof barrier. even if the mobile phone gets water, the internal components will not be directly damaged. through these technologies, mobile phones can reach ip67, ip68 or even ip69 protection levels, and can be used in a certain depth of water for a short period of time.

image source: apple

however, existing waterproof technology cannot meet the needs of users in complex daily scenarios.first of all, although ip69 can provide a higher level of protection, it is mainly used in special scenarios such as industrial equipment and has not yet been widely used in mobile phones.however, the existing ip68 design may have seal failures when faced with high temperature, steam or high-pressure water flow.

secondly, as the use time of mobile phones increases, the physical seals will age or wear out, resulting in a decrease in waterproof performance.most waterproof mobile phones do not provide coverage for water damage because mobile phone brands cannot predict these aging and wear conditions. in an era when mobile phone waterproofing relies on waterproof rubber rings and waterproof plugs, users can use the barometer inside the mobile phone to detect the "air tightness" of the mobile phone (fans who have used xperia will be familiar with this term) to confirm the wear and tear of the waterproof plug. , so as to have a basic understanding of the overall waterproof performance of the mobile phone.

but in the era of waterproof coatings, users cannot know the wear and tear of the waterproof coating on mobile phones in a non-destructive way. at this time, the phone is in a superposition state of "waterproof" and "non-waterproof" - no one knows whether the phone is waterproof or not until the phone breaks down due to water damage.

there is no doubt that consumers will not like "schrödinger's mobile phone."

waterproofing without after-sales guarantee is equivalent to no waterproofing

in fact, there has been a long discussion on weibo about the non-warranty of rugged mobile phones due to water damage. especially when smartphones have evolved to the stage where they can be waterproof without a waterproof cover. in order to avoid a large number of possible water intrusion failures, mobile phone manufacturers have generally reached a consensus: they will treat water intrusion as intentional damage across the board and do not provide any support. warranty - even if the waterproof indicators such as "ip68" are repeatedly emphasized on the promotional posters.

xiaolei expressed clear opposition and denial to such a one-size-fits-all behavior. in the final analysis, such after-sales policies are inherently inconsistent. on the one hand, mobile phone brands use the so-called "three prevention effects" in order to create "differentiated" competitive selling points and instill in consumers "we "my mobile phone is waterproof", but when it was actually flooded, it refused any warranty.

of course, some manufacturers will be smarter in these aspects, such as appropriately lowering the waterproof and dustproof certification standards to provide an explanation buffer, or using the description of "water-resistant" instead of "waterproof" to avoid possible legal risks.

but it would be unkind to advertise that it supports ip68 but completely cut it off from the water intrusion warranty. xiaolei thinks,if a mobile phone manufacturer decides to promote its products as having ip68 or a certain degree of waterproofing, then it should establish a set of feasible after-sales identification measures.this includes air tightness inspection before disassembling the machine, confirmation of the water inlet point after disassembly, and judgment of the degree of damage, etc. to determine the party responsible for the water intrusion and whether there are quality problems with the machine itself.

image source: sony

if the mobile phone does behave improperly during use, such as directly flushing various holes with water, soaking for a long time and causing water intrusion, etc., the after-sales service will issue a test report and clearly refuse the warranty and provide paid maintenance services; otherwise, after reasonable if water enters the scope of use, we have reason to doubt whether the mobile phone itself has design defects or quality problems. the manufacturer should provide warranty services like other quality problems.

when it comes to waterproofing technology, brands can boast and use clever marketing techniques, and can even use the description "waterproof" instead of "waterproof"; but in the face of consumers' expectations, waterproofing has become a "deadlock" for their rights protection. instead of continuing with "floating in the water" propaganda, perhaps it is time to establish a truly responsible after-sales protection system for consumers.

after all, consumers are not stupid. we know that compared to "schrödinger's waterproofing", the credibility of a mobile phone brand is the bottom line for true waterproofing.