I remember well my Xperia Z that advertised with its resistance to water and dust so that it even allowed me to submerge it in water without problems. The only problem with that ability is that if the phone has a minimal manufacturing defect, the water could get in and mess it up well, as hundreds of users who went to the forums to criticize this "ability."
Most smartphones have that resistance to water with a good IP53 certification, and there are few that already advertise their ability to submerge them because of what could happen. The only thing that happens now is that the Google Pixel they may merely be "bathed" or "passed through water" with the IP53 certification that they will obtain when they are presented on October 4.
In this IP53 certification, the number «3» indicates water resistance of a product. Zero would indicate no protection, while 8 would be the maximum that a product can achieve. But what has been said, it is normal, that some terminal may have a minimum factory failure where water could pass, so it is advisable not to think that our smartphone is amphibious.
The IPX3 certification, which our Google Pixel has, only protects from relatively low volumes of water for a short period of time. This could be a light rain in which some drops could fall on the terminal, to have to protect it when placing it vertically.
A device really begins to have real protection when starts with IPX5This is that a water source is directed directly to the terminal from any angle at a low pressure, although with a large volume of water for a few minutes Only some of the old Xperia Z and the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge are those that could resist water with IPX7 and IPX8.
It only remains to say that the "X" in the certification means dust protection. A "5" on it means that it is basically impossible for dust to get inside the device to cause any damage to it. All modern smartphones today are rated IP5X as it is a basic feature of their industrial design.
So there will be be careful when the rain arrecie to protect our $ 649 Google Pixel.