Whether you own an iPhone or a Google Pixel, many modern smartphones come with some level of water resistance or waterproofing to minimize the risk of water damage. The Ingress Protection (IP) scale is used to determine how resistant your device is to water and dust. Apple’s, Samsung’s, and Google’s flagship devices all feature an IP68 rating.
According to the IP system, the first digit indicates your device’s resistance to dust and debris, and the second digit represents your device’s water resistance. If your device has a water resistance rating of 8, it ultimately means that it can survive being immersed in 1.5 meters of water, for up to 30 minutes.
While it’s unlikely that rice dust, starch, or water, will get inside your device, thanks to most modern devices’ premium build and IP68 rating, it could make its way into your phone’s charging port, headphone jack, speaker, and other internal components. Once it does, it’ll be a pain to clean out. Even Apple warns users against putting their phones in a bag of rice.
If your smartphone isn’t water resistant, it could end up water-logged and, despite rice’s absorbent qualities, it will fail at removing all the moisture from the internal components of your device. Drying must be more thorough to prevent corrosion, which occurs when moisture reacts with the metals inside your device. Once corrosion sets in, you’re usually left with no choice but to bid farewell to your device.
