IP67 is the rating people go looking for once a device might actually end up in water rather than just under it. What it certifies is narrower than the word "waterproof" suggests, and narrower than most people assume before reading the actual test condition. This article works through the exact procedure behind the second digit 7, where it sits relative to IP68 and IP65, why the rating only ever turns up on small devices in Robustbook's range, and which models carry it. Every figure below comes from the manufacturer datasheet listed on the matching English datasheet page.
Under DIN EN 60529, the first digit 6 stands for dust-tight, the highest level the standard defines for that digit: no dust enters the housing during the test at all. The second digit 7 stands for protection against temporary submersion. "Temporary" is not left open to interpretation here. It has an exact definition, laid out in the next section, and a device only earns the digit by meeting that definition under test conditions.
The device is lowered into water so that its lowest point sits one metre below the surface, and it stays there for 30 minutes. After that, no water may have entered in a quantity that affects function or safety. That is the entire test: a specific depth, a specific duration, still fresh water, standard laboratory conditions. Nothing about salt water, moving water, extended time, or pressure beyond that single metre is part of what IP67 certifies.
A pass under IP67 says less than it appears to at first glance. It says nothing about longer exposure, greater depth, salt water, waves or current, and nothing about water striking the housing under pressure rather than surrounding it at rest. It is also a statement about the device as tested, not a lifetime guarantee: seals age, port covers do not always get closed properly in the field, and a drop can distort a housing enough to break a seal that passed the original test. The rating describes how the device was built and certified, not how long that protection lasts under real conditions.
IP68 covers continuous submersion, and unlike every other digit in the sequence, the standard does not fix the exact conditions itself. Depth and duration are agreed between manufacturer and user and simply have to exceed what IP67 requires. That means two IP68-rated devices are not automatically comparable to each other; the number on its own says less than the stated depth and duration behind it. One device in the documented range carries IP68: the Archos X67 5G, which is also rated IP69K. Because IP68 is by definition a stricter test than IP67, this device covers the IP67 requirement as well, without listing IP67 as a separate marking.
The digits suggest an order, but the tests behind IP65, IP66 and IP67 measure different kinds of stress. IP65 and IP66 test a directed water jet; IP67 tests submersion. A device rated IP67 has not necessarily been through the jet test at all. For anyone specifying equipment, that distinction is practical: hosing a device down calls for a second digit of 5 or 6, while a device that might fall into water calls for the 7. Covering both scenarios means finding both ratings listed on the same datasheet, since one does not stand in for the other.
Checked against the manufacturer datasheets listed on each English datasheet page, 5 of the 45 documented devices carry IP67.
| Device | Display | Rating | MIL-STD | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fieldbook F57G2 | 5.7 inch | IP67 | – | 265 g |
| Fieldbook N101 | 10.1 inch | IP67 | – | 970 g |
| Fieldbook N80G2 | 8 inch | IP67 | – | 600 g |
| Getac ATEX EX80 | 8 inch | IP67 | MIL-STD-810G | 1.48 kg |
| Getac ZX80 | 8 inch | IP67 | MIL-STD-810H | 590 g |
The Archos X67 5G, rated IP68 and IP69K, meets the IP67 requirement through its IP68 rating rather than listing IP67 separately, since continuous submersion is by definition the stricter test. Counting it alongside the 5 devices marked IP67 directly, 6 of the 45 documented devices meet the IP67 requirement, even though only 5 carry it as their own marking.
| Device | Display | Rating | MIL-STD | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archos X67 5G | 6.67 inch | IP68, IP69K | MIL-STD-810G | 380 g |
Look at the display sizes in both tables above and a pattern holds without a single exception: 5.7, 8, 8, 8, 10.1 and 6.67 inches. Across all 45 documented devices, checked one by one against the datasheets, submersion protection, IP67 or IP68, never appears on anything larger than 10.1 inches. The largest devices in the range, the 15.6-inch notebooks, sit at IP65 or IP66 instead, never higher on the second digit. That is not a coincidence of naming; the next section explains the mechanical reason behind it.
Full submersion protection needs a housing with no moving openings anywhere. A notebook is built around several: a hinge, a keyboard punched through with dozens of individual key openings, and, on models with a capable processor, active cooling that has to pull air in and push it back out. None of that is impossible to seal against a directed jet, which is exactly why notebooks commonly reach IP65. Sealing it against 30 minutes of submersion is a different order of problem, and that is why fanless tablets, which have no hinge and no keyboard openings to manage, are the devices that actually reach IP67 or IP68 in the range. Anyone who needs both submersion resistance and a physical keyboard typically ends up with a tablet paired with a detachable keyboard dock rather than a conventional notebook.
Only for the exact case that was tested: one metre deep, 30 minutes, still fresh water. It is not a guarantee for permanent underwater use or for any deeper or longer exposure.
That is not covered. High-pressure cleaning is certified separately, as IP69K, and does not sit in the same digit sequence as IP67.
The stated rating applies to the device as tested, in as-new condition. Ageing seals, drops and covers left open in the field all reduce actual protection without changing what the datasheet says.
For submersion, yes, since it exceeds IP67 by definition. Without a stated depth and duration, though, an IP68 marking on its own is an incomplete answer, since the standard leaves those two figures to the manufacturer.
If you need a device rated for genuine submersion rather than splashing or a hose-down, the Robustbook team can help match the rating to the conditions your devices will actually face.