Over the years, HTC has launched with a few devices which could be fully submerged in water, but the newly announced HTC 10 is not one of them. That being said, the phone does offer a certain level of protection from the elements with an IP53 certification. So, what exactly can the HTC 10 handle? An IP53 rating indicates that the phone is dust protected (indicated by the 5) and can handle spraying water (indicated by the 3).
This means that you can take your phone to the beach without worrying that the dust and sand will get inside the phone. Just don’t go burying while building a sand castle. If you’re caught in a rain storm, the HTC 10 should be just fine. Just make sure you keep it from being fully submerged in water if you want the phone to work properly.
The official description of the HTC 10’s IP53 rating is listed below.
Solids protection (first number)
5 – Dust Protected: Ingress of dust is not entirely prevented, but it must not enter in sufficient quantity to interfere with the satisfactory operation of the equipment; complete protection against contact.
Liquid protection (second number)
3 – Spraying water: Water falling as a spray at any angle up to 60° from the vertical shall have no harmful effect.
I would think that this day and age phones would be made to be 100% dust proof and at lease water proof for 30 min at 1 meter. We should be getting better protection for the money. An IP67 or at least IP65 needs to be a standard by now.