Almost every product in this category claims to be waterproof, and almost none of them explain what that means. The IP rating system is precise, internationally standardised, and routinely misrepresented — usually not through dishonesty but because the scale doesn't work the way it appears to.
How to read the two digits
An IP rating has two numbers, as in IP56. The first describes protection against solids, the second against water. Either can be replaced by an X, which means that property wasn't tested — not that it failed, simply that it wasn't assessed.
So IPX7 tells you about water and says nothing about dust. IP56 tells you about both. This is the first place the comparison breaks down: a product with a first-digit rating isn't better or worse than one without, it has just been through a different test.
The water scale
The second digit runs from 0 to 9, but only a few points matter for anything you'd hold in your hand.
4 — protected against splashing from any direction. Enough for damp hands and a wipe down. Not enough for a shower.
5 — protected against low-pressure water jets. Rinsing under a tap is fine.
6 — protected against powerful jets from any direction. Tested with a high-pressure nozzle at close range for three minutes. Comfortably covers shower use and thorough rinsing.
7 — protected against immersion in one metre of water for thirty minutes. This is the bath rating.
8 — immersion beyond one metre, to a depth the manufacturer specifies. Rare and largely irrelevant outside diving equipment.
Why 7 is not simply better than 6
This is the part that catches people out, and it's written into the standard itself.
Ratings 1 through 6 are cumulative — a product certified at 6 has necessarily passed everything below it. But 7 and 8 are separate tests with different physics. Jet protection is about sealing against pressure. Immersion protection is about sealing against sustained static water. A product can be excellent at one and untested at the other.
IEC 60529 makes this explicit: a device marked IPX7 is not assumed suitable for IPX5 or IPX6 conditions unless it carries both marks. Which means a product rated for the bath may not be rated for a high-pressure rinse, and a product rated for jets may not survive being dropped in the bath.
Neither number is the better one. They answer different questions.
What this looks like in practice
The Peachy Wand is IP56. Dust protected, and certified against powerful jets — it can be used in the shower and rinsed thoroughly under running water. It is not rated for immersion, so it shouldn't go into a bath or a filled basin.
The Peachy Ember is IPX7. Fully submersible to one metre for thirty minutes, which makes it bath-safe and straightforward to clean under water.
Two different ratings, two different sets of conditions, and no useful ranking between them.
What to be sceptical of
"Waterproof" with no rating attached means nothing. It isn't a defined term and carries no testing obligation. The same goes for "splashproof" and "water resistant" — descriptive language that sounds like a specification without being one.
If a product is genuinely rated, the manufacturer will publish the number, because certification is expensive and worth stating. Absence is informative.
One thing no rating covers: charging ports. Almost every rating assumes the port is dry and, where applicable, the cover is closed. Water sitting in a charging contact will corrode it regardless of what the housing is rated to. Dry the port before charging, every time.