The iPhone X Is a Reminder That Glass Phones Are Fragile

iPhone-X

Apple’s latest and greatest iPhone is finally shipping to customers, but some early testing of the iPhone X suggests it may be much more fragile than people expect. In a number of unscientific drop tests, the iPhone X is tapping out far earlier than other models. Is this a real problem or is it par for the course?

Unlike the last few generations of iPhone, the iPhone X has glass on the front and the back. The glass is also curved symmetrically on both sides, which makes the phone feel nicer to hold, but it could also make it more vulnerable when dropped.

The worry over iPhone X durability was kicked off by Cnet, which did some “real life” drop tests from pocket height. The attention-grabbing headline proclaimed the iPhone X broke on the first drop–a small spiderweb crack on the back of the device. After another drop, the screen too was cracked. Phone insurer SquareTrade performed a slightly more controlled experiment with its phone-dropping rig to control how the device landed. In this test, the iPhone X screen shattered on the first drop as it landed on the corner. Not only was the screen broken, it no longer responded to inputs and Face ID was dead. At the other end of the spectrum, YouTuber TechRax dropped a sledgehammer on the phone a couple of times. This also broke the iPhone, which is not the case for many other devices he’s tested.

It should come as no surprise that a phone made primarily out of glass is prone to breakage. Although, Apple’s phone have been mostly metal for the last few years, and there were some important design differences the last time it used glass backs. The iPhone X has steep curves at the edges, which looks cool and feels nice in your hand. The cracks seen in the above tests are all starting from this curved section, which is similar to what we see on phones like the Galaxy S8. The corners are especially vulnerable.

, The iPhone X Is a Reminder That Glass Phones Are Fragile, #Bizwhiznetwork.com Innovation ΛI

So, why use so much glass on the back of a phone at all? After all, it’s breakable and slippery. Phone makers will contend that it looks “premium,” but that’s a value judgement with which not everyone will agree. The functional reason is that glass is transparent to radio frequencies. It’s better for antennas and wireless charging, which Apple has embraced this year.

The iPhone X is the first Apple phone to have an OLED screen, and this is a very expensive panel. The cost of repairing a broken screen without additional warranty coverage is around $550. You know what’s a lot less expensive? A case.

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