How Water Resistant Is The OnePlus 7 Pro Exactly?

The OnePlus 7 Pro is a great smartphone, sure, but one thing remains unclear: its water resistance ability, which was claimed by its maker but without an official IP rating and no further details. So CNET conducted a test to find out how water resistant the phone is exactly.

Dunking the OnePlus 7 Pro

Based on existing videos about dunking the phone underwater for some minutes, we can assume that the device can survive splashing or at least five minutes in the water. And CNET decided to begin with submersion for 10 minutes.

The good news is, it survived. The phone could still allow navigation on the screen, making calls, web browsing, and video playing. The audio was muffled and distorted, but likely because of the water remaining in its speakers and got better when more water was removed. Both cameras could still shoot photos, no fog or water spotted under either lens, and the pop-out mechanism worked smoothly.

After being left for a few hours do fry out, the phone was dunked again, this time for half an hour. The handset survived again, with connectivity, camera, and display still intact.

Next, the phone was taken to a pool, moving from fresh to chlorinated water. With the pool, the reporter decided to test if the 7 Pro could register at least IPX7, the most common IP rating for today phones, which mean they can survive 30 minutes in 0.9 meters underwater. Greater the depth, greater the pressure, so water is more likely to get into the phone.

Now, after around eight minutes, the display shut off, and the phone conked out. Then, after being taken out of the water for half an hour, the display did not turn on. Attempts to turn it on by pressing the power button failed.

OnePlus 7 Pro’s water protection cover the basics

After the pool test, the phone was left to dry in uncooked rice for a day, but there was still water inside as well as droplets under the rear lens.

The phone actually died after the test, but still, it could be considered successful. All in all, the OnePlus 7 Pro died after 8 minutes soaked in the chlorinated pool. This time, however, is enough to get the phone back if you drop it yourself, especially when the phone maker’s warranty does not cover water damage.

And surviving 30 minutes in freshwater is already much of reassurance. This means the phone offers basic water resistance and is durable enough to survive a quite long dip in a toilet or a sink, covering the most common cases of how phones get damaged.