There’s nothing like a little controversy when a new smartphone is launched to get people debating online. Remember ‘#scratchgate’ when the iPhone 5’s slate blue anodized finished scratched off really easily? Or last year’s iPhone 6 Plus, which some said bent really easily? Put those two hashtag-gates together and you apparently have the latest flagship Android phone. The Nexus 6P is the newest pure Android phone from Google, and is about to come under some new scrutiny from prospective buyers thanks to a video from Jerry Rig Everything on YouTube…
In the video, Jerry takes the Nexus 6P, made by Huawei, through a series of tests to see how durable it is. He tests its ability to withstand scratching, overheating and bending. Sadly, the phone didn’t do so well in any of the three tests:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTIaUH6PIvo&feature=youtu.be]
Testing nine different materials with increasing hardness against the display reveals that it will start to scratch from friction with any product that has a rating of 6 or higher on Mohs scale of hardness. What’s perhaps worse is that having scratched the screen, a light tap on the front glass panel made a long crack appear along the surface. He scratched the back metal too and noted how incredibly easy the anodized finish was to mark permanently, even with some keys.
To test the display’s performance against extreme heat, he took a flame to the panel and, again, it doesn’t do so well. The flame caused a white spot to burn in to the display panel which didn’t go away.
Then came the bend test. And to quote Jerry, his “little sister could have bent this phone in half with her hands”. In the comments section in response to a question, he even said the phone bent easier than an iPhone 6 Plus. So it’s practically made from paper… or not.
The problem with the bend test part is that the phone’s structure has already been compromised when the screen cracked. As you can see in this video, an unharmed version of the same phone is almost impossible to bend:
[tweet https://twitter.com/luckyankit/status/660052058326720513 align=’center’]
One commenter in a growing thread on reddit puts it like this:
Can confirm, this is the reason right here. Cracked glass means that you no longer have a boxed structure – you’re effectively bending a flat sheet of aluminum now.
In automotive and aerospace engineering, we call this a “body in white”, compared to a fully assembled vehicle. In a car, the front and rear windshield alone increase the stiffness of the frame by a factor of 2x. This is why crash testing is done with a fully assembled car, rather than just the frame and restraint system.
While it’s probably not a perfect analogy, it does explain the results pretty well. What’s more, it’s worth noting the phone cracked and bent in the same area the heat did the worst damage to the display. Extreme heat undoubtedly compromised that part of the phone.
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“There’s nothing like a little controversy when a new smartphone is launched to get people debating online. Remember ‘#scratchgate’ when the iPhone 5’s slate blue anodized finished scratched off really easily?”
This should read, “black anodized finished.”
Otherwise, great article! I love that this bendgate or scratchgate won’t get nearly as much attention as the iPhone5/6 did.
Just imagine if this happened to the new Rose Gold 6s!
Where are the ‘bendgate’ and ‘scratch gate’ shouters?
This confirms me that all that was done by troll journalist (sorry by the good ones) that look for page views!
1. This whole trend, started by Apple (iPhone 4), Sony (Xperia Z) & LG (Nexus 4) of making phones intentionally fragile (perhaps to earn a little extra from repairs?) using glass and metal in their construction, as opposed to tough flexible shock absorbing plastics, as per Motorola and Samsung, shows total lack of forethought or greed. 2. Even so, a mobile phone is by it’s nature something you should take care of, so anyone putting their phone in a position where it is going to be flexed is asking for it – (since 1980s, I have never ever imposed any stress on my mobile phone in any direction), and further, if you dedicate a pocket (front right for me) to your phone, and ONLY your phone, you are never going to scratch it with keys, coins etc.
My LG Nexus 4 glass rear spontaneously shattered on it’s own after I walked inside a building that was much warmer or colder than outside. The temp change caused the damage and LG agreed (no evidence of droppage or sharp pointy object on screenage), and repaired it free of charge. (Thx LG!) I got rid of it and got a G3 with it’s sensible plastic back, and then a Note 4, equally tough. Worried that the Note 5 being glass and metal is going to be fragile again, but treat your phone like gelignite and it will remain sparkly and new for years.
Funny though, Samsung has opted out of their previous “shock absorbing plastics” to a full metal+glass design. So obviously Samsung wound’t agree with you here on “lack of forethought”. I agree with the “greed” here, because prettier, more delicately built phones sell more.
I’ve carried a 4 or 4s since 2010 every single day, without a case. Both are doing fine.
4s user here. Same. No scratches, without case, anything. My friend just asked me the other day how’s that possible that my phone looks just as new.
Metal is better at heat dissipation = less throttling of the device.
It’s one reason iPhones are so much faster and responsive than android phones. Now, android has many other problems and will likely never catch up to the stability of iPhones, but you have to realize using plastic has some tradeoffs in terms of heat conductivity.
I have a iPhone 5 it has hit the cement, pavement and just yesterday the ground when I have fallen 3 times and it still looks like new not a scratch on it!!
I don’t give a sh** about it, Even it was very strong or scratch resistance, I have not had a thought of buying one.
Crap.
the defense of this by the “fandroids” of the world is hilarious. these are the same folks that needed no further details when it game to bendgate…
It’s really ridiculous the amount of reaction videos of people making faces trying to look like they are applying force to bend it.
The test was already debunked. It’s staged and fake. Even “iVerge” says so, and that’s saying something.
Nope, he tested other phones the same way. Only Nexus 6p broke so badly that way.
PS – The Verge never said its staged and fake. Stop lying.
(as suggested by his use of the word “iVerge”, 20 seconds on his Twitter feed confirms that he’s a giant Google fanboy – a pretty big one, that he bothers coming to “9To5Mac” to post comments like this in defence of his overlords).
Thank God, otherwise how would you sleep tonight?
The “iVerge” is trying everything to appeal to the fandroid market, which is much bigger than the “neutral” market.
There seems to be a load of shills that try and pick faults with new Apple products. It doesn’t seem to be working as sales, customer satisfaction and profits are still rising. The only way to beat Apple is to make better products, this they have failed to do.
Who cares? No one was going to buy this phone anyway. Save it for 9to5Google
This will go nowhere fast. All OEMs except Apple get passes on hardware issues. Only Apple can have a #gate, the others are always perfect releases.
You guys are morons: http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/30/9643538/nexus-6p-bend-test-video
From the same guys that tried to sell me that giving away my privacy for Google photos was okay.
Ya hay varios videos que comprueban lo contrario, El nexus 6P es un dispositivo muy resistente…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GZV-jO6ebg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTx6ypwwgio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMqFYHAvyjw
The irony is that Apple is the checksum company for bendy scratchy products. Way to set the standard!
Where are the scientific bend tests that everyone whipped out for the iPhone? With actual measurements of force? None of the guys in the rebuttal videos look like they are ACTUALLY straining, they are just making noises.