Nothing Phone (1): Is it Waterproof?

The Nothing Phone (1) easily features one of the most unique smartphone designs on the Android market. But with a semi-transparent back and those futuristic LED strips, you’d be forgiven to be ever so slightly concerned about the durability of the Nothing Phone (1).

And while we will not be dropping the flashy handset from a rooftop just yet, we will try to answer a more mundane question - is the Nothing Phone (1) waterproof and, if so, to what extent?

Is the Nothing Phone (1) waterproof?

Unfortunately, the Nothing Phone (1) is not waterproofper se. The smartphone does feature an IP53 certification rating. We will explain what this number stands for in detail in the next section. However, in short, the Nothing Phone (1) is only water resistant and to a limited extent at that.

It offers protection from liquids sprayed on the device, but, importantly, it does not safeguard the phone if the latter is fully immersed. Hence, accidentally spilling a glass of water on the Nothing Phone (1) will not be much of a hassle, but you should most certainly not be taking your handset for a swim in the pool.

What does IP53 mean?

The ingress protection rating (i.e. IP rating) refers to the internal protection of the device from external elements - namely liquids and small particles (e.g.dust). The first number refers to the level of the protection of the device from small solid particles. In the case of the Nothing Phone (1) that number is 5, which translates to “dust protected”. This means that ingress of dust is not entirely impossible, but it is very difficult for a sufficient amount of it to enter into the device and interfere with its internal functioning.