The OnePlus devices have never been certified for the water-resistant but what about the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro. Let’s find out.

Products not certified. Water resistant under optimal test conditions. 

You will notice this disclaimer in the One Plus series: We just bought a bucket ad (see it below). Well, at least they’re trying to be unconventional, something we haven’t seen since the advent of the OnePlus One.

OnePlus made a simple argument for not IP rating their OnePlus 7/7 Pro. According to them, if IP Rating is not a criterion for a valid warranty, how much does it matter to the consumer?

After all (from the looks of it at least), OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro can take a dunk in a bucket. But before we delve into the waterproof question and try to answer it, let’s get an understanding of what an IP Rating is.

For what it is worth, you can check out this review video from the famous reviewer, Dave Lee, whose OnePlus 7 Pro survived under the water for 16minues (!!!) and things didn’t go bad even when the selfie camera was opened up and close under the water. Sure, the depth of the water counts a lot in causing or not causing the damage, but this at least tells you that some water won’t hurt the phone or the pop-up camera.

So yes, you shall be able to use the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro in rain without causing any damage to it.

What do IP ratings mean?

The IP (Ingress Protection) rating number is split into two digits, the first digit is for solid resistance (e.g. to dust) and the second digit is for moisture protection (i.e. to liquids). These figures range from one to nine (with one indicating no protection and nine indicating it’s resistant to prolonged immersion under pressure).

If a phone has an IP68 rating, it is considered to have great protection against dust and temporary immersion.

The One Plus 7 series does NOT have an IP Rating

Part of the reason we are not sold on One Plus’s argument is that IP Rating matters. An institution beside your own company (which has a vested interest in the product) is offering an impartial opinion that certifies your product safe for use in water. So it offers a certain amount of legitimacy that would have justified a phone being dunked into the bucket.

Pete Lau, co-founder of OnePlus estimated that the extra cost of getting an IP rating will increase the price of a phone by $30.

Given the very nature of OnePlus’s business strategy, it’s obvious they would look to save that money and reduce the price by that amount to give the benefit to the users.

And they have done just that. The OnePlus 7 Pro starts at just $669 in spite of boasting the world’s first 90Hz AMOLED panel, Snapdragon 855 processor, etc. cool specs.

So yes, we have a water-resistant phone without an IP Rating and OnePlus is audaciously using a disclaimer to get away with it.

But will they get away with it? You tell us.

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