According to the designer of the Galaxy Gear, Pranav Mistry, Galaxy Gear comes with IP55 certification. This means that the Galaxy Gear could handle some dust and water, though it will be nowhere near Samsung's Galaxy S4 Active, which sports IP67 certification. When we asked Samsung in Berlin whether the Galaxy Gear was water-resistant, we were told that it could “handle some water.” But it's a feature Samsung won't advertise as the company can't guarantee just how much water-resistance the Gear will showcase.
IP stands for ‘Ingress Protection,.’ and an IP number is used to specify the environmental protection of enclosures around electronic equipment. These ratings are determined by specific tests. The IP number is composed of two numbers, the first referring to the protection against solid objects and the second against liquids. The higher the number, the better the protection.
First number
0 – No protection (Sometimes X)
1 – Protected against solid objects up to 50mm³
2 – Protected against solid objects up to 12mm³
3 – Protected against solid objects up to 2.5mm³
4 – Protected against solid objects up to 1mm³
5 – Protected against dust, limited ingress (no harmful deposit)
6 – Totally protected against dust
Second number
0 – No protection (Sometimes X)
1 – Protection against vertically falling drops of water (e.g. condensation)
2 – Protection against direct sprays of water up to 15 degrees from vertical
3 – Protection against direct sprays of water up to 60 degrees from vertical
4 – Protection against water sprayed from all directions – limited ingress permitted
5 – Protected against low pressure jets of water from all directions – limited ingress permitted
6 – Protected against low pressure jets of water, limited ingress permitted (e.g. ship deck)
7 – Protected against the effect of immersion between 15cm and 1m
8 – Protected against long periods of immersion under pressure
Tested in Atlantic Ocean. Gear is water resistant. IP55 🙂 #GalaxyGear pic.twitter.com/yh3oFfvwhB
— Pranav Mistry (@pranavmistry) September 17, 2013
