A waterproof phone shrugs off a brief dunk or a cloudburst — and among premium phones, IP certification is now simply good manners. But water protection is not all alike, and the rating printed in the spec sheet decides exactly what your phone survives.
IP65, IP67, IP68: What the Numbers Mean
The first digit of an IP rating covers dust: virtually all waterproof phones score a 6 there, meaning dust-tight. The second digit is the interesting one — water. A 7 (as in IP67) means protection against temporary submersion: up to 30 minutes in water up to one metre deep. An 8 (IP68) means protection against continuous submersion, with the manufacturer specifying the permitted depth and duration. A 5 (IP65) means protection against water jets from any angle — fine for rain, wrong for swimming. Phones rated only IP53 against splashes do not count as waterproof at all.
Best Android: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
The Galaxy S26 Ultra is the strongest smartphone in the current rankings and tops the speed table — IP68-waterproof, naturally. Beyond the customary flagship hardware, its headline act is the new privacy display: activated, nothing is legible from the side, and unlike stick-on films it can shield individual screen areas, pop-ups or single apps. Against its predecessor the gains are incremental — video, processor, charging speed. The insider tip: anyone who skips the privacy screen gets nearly identical strength from last year's Galaxy S25 Ultra for less money, with slightly better colour reproduction, marginally longer stamina and a titanium body — equally waterproof.
Best iPhone: Apple iPhone 17 Pro
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The iPhone 17 Pro not only leads the current iPhone generation but returns Apple to the overall top ten after a long dry spell. Display, battery life, working speed, equipment — best-in-class marks almost everywhere, and in the endurance scenario it even outlasted the larger Pro Max. For those who want the best iPhone technology in a hand-friendly size, this is it; anyone indifferent to the extra telephoto and cooling extras should look at the standard iPhone 17 — same size, nearly the same technology, lighter camera bump.
Price Tip Under 500 Euros: Honor 400 Pro
The Honor 400 Pro is beautifully made — satin glass back, matt frame, display curved to every edge — and genuinely fast, with top endurance. In a 13-phone comparison of Android models around 500 euros it took a podium place, beating Xiaomi's 15T directly along the way. The party trick: a bundled Google service that animates still photos into living video. At this price, waterproofing included, very little touches it.
Best Camera: Google Pixel 8 Pro
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A photo finish in the camera rankings ended with the Pixel 8 Pro back on top: in the tested standard situations its picture quality concedes nothing to its successors — it won the generational comparison outright. For photography-first buyers who still want proper water protection, the older Pixel remains the smart purchase.
Why Cheap Phones Skip the Rating
Certification costs manufacturers real money per model, which is why IP ratings cluster in the upper price classes. Mid-range phones increasingly carry them — the Honor proves it under 500 euros — but at the bargain end, an absent rating does not necessarily mean fragile sealing; it means untested, unwarranted sealing. Treat uncertified phones as rain-tolerant at best, and never swim with them.
The Bottom Line
Read the second digit: 8 swims, 7 survives a dunk, 5 handles jets and storms. The Galaxy S26 Ultra and iPhone 17 Pro lead their platforms with IP68; the Honor 400 Pro brings the rating under 500 euros; and last year's S25 Ultra remains the canny flagship buy.
