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DROP TEST: Will the iPhone 4 Survive? Not Really

- By - Source : Tom's Guide US

How many drops can the iPhone 4 survive?

The front side of the iPhone 4 is made of Corning Gorilla Glass, a chemically strengthened alkali-aluminosilicate thin sheet glass that is reported to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic. This special glass is supposed to make the phone more durable and more resistant to wear and tear.

However, the folks over at Engadget have already scratched their device. Granted it's on the back and we're not sure if that's Gorilla Glass, but according to them, it's also strain of strengthened glass.

So, you probably shouldn't put the phone in your pocket with your keys, but what about the clumsier people? You know us, we're the kind of people that are all elbows and knees and can knock things over without even being in the same room. We also drop our mobile phones a lot. So how many drops can people like us expect our iPhone 4 to survive? One. The second time it'll shut off; it'll garner some more scuffs and scratches on the third drop and the glass will shatter on the fourth.

Bye, bye, iPhone 4!

iPhone 4 Drop Test

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joytech22 06/25/2010 12:15 PM
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HOLY CRAP! that broke easy! Almost "TOO" easy..

kikireeki 06/25/2010 12:20 PM
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The wind noise is so annoying, and the vid dimensions are rather odd.
anyway my 3yrs old Nokia e61i will take these drops everyday and remain rock solid functional and less damaged!

neiroatopelcc 06/25/2010 12:22 PM
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I don't like apple for a lot of reasons, but I'm not sure other phones are more durable!
I dropped a nokia 6500 classic ONCE from about 1 meter, and it broke off the top plastic cover (3 of 4 pins broke, had to glue it back on), and the plastic on the sides of the keyboard is no longer aligned properly.
The device still works, but if it is so fragile, I bet a second drop will kill it.

Marco925 06/25/2010 12:24 PM
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I guess you only have 3 chances with this phone.

bin1127 06/25/2010 12:28 PM
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the second time it'll shut off and not turn back on?

LePhuronn 06/25/2010 12:33 PM
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I had my HTC Desire for less than 48 hours before dropping it on the road and kicking it SCREEN DOWN trying to pick it up.

Guess what? Not a mark on the screen (plastic bodywork took a scuff though).

jamesedgeuk2000 06/25/2010 12:46 PM
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neiroatopelcc :
I don't like apple for a lot of reasons, but I'm not sure other phones are more durable!I dropped a nokia 6500 classic ONCE from about 1 meter, and it broke off the top plastic cover (3 of 4 pins broke, had to glue it back on), and the plastic on the sides of the keyboard is no longer aligned properly. The device still works, but if it is so fragile, I bet a second drop will kill it.



Thats nothing, my mates chucked his Nokia NK702 on the back seat of his car and it bounced out a rear window at 70mph, he pulled over and found it my the side of the carriageway, the battery had broken off so he had to tape it bk on, worked fine for years lol

Clintonio 06/25/2010 1:09 PM
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-6+

Wow, just three times?

My Nokia E71 took so much more abuse than this, so has my new HTC Desire.

Also, I hear other people saying they wouldn't put their keys in their pocket with their touchphone: I do it daily. My HTC Desire has yet to be scratched in 3 momths.

LePhuronn :
I had my HTC Desire for less than 48 hours before dropping it on the road and kicking it SCREEN DOWN trying to pick it up.Guess what? Not a mark on the screen (plastic bodywork took a scuff though).



Same, I have no idea how I dropped it so fast though!

As much as I dislike the iPhone, it's not for me physically on the grounds that it'd be trashed after a couple of days with me.

gtvr 06/25/2010 1:13 PM
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"chemically strengthened alkali-aluminosilicate thin sheet glass"

transparent aluminum anyone?

skykaptain 06/25/2010 1:32 PM
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The glass maybe

Quote : 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder
but it will also be more brittle than normal plastic, so it will shatter. Same thing goes for high carbon steel, it's stronger but more brittle.

joytech22 06/25/2010 1:47 PM
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maigo :
iFail



iSee what you did there! *Pun intended*

guzz46 06/25/2010 1:51 PM
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Quote :The glass maybe
Quote :
20 times stiffer and 30 times harder
but it will also be more brittle than normal plastic, so it will shatter. Same thing goes for high carbon steel, it's stronger but more brittle.


Yea go plastic, my brother managed to some how slam his old sony ericsson in a car door once which put a crack along the screen, he is still using it one year later, you can see past a crack in the screen easy enough but not a shattered screen

Anonymous 06/25/2010 2:03 PM
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eek that's too fragile for my liking. I drop my phone at lest one time a week. With this level of fragility, I seriously doubt iphone would last even a month in my hand!

guzz46 06/25/2010 2:03 PM
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Quote :http://www.dula.tv/blog/wp-content [...] s-ipad.png


Classic, the rock just missed out, i would of given the rock an opensource tick though which would of made it a draw

blppt 06/25/2010 2:22 PM
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Heehee, I'm finding the crazy "cellphone trauma" stories in the comments more entertaining than the article.

Userremoved 06/25/2010 2:47 PM
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No you need that 29$ rubber band for it to survive.

Regulas 06/25/2010 2:59 PM
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Regulas 06/25/2010 3:02 PM
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nforce4max 06/25/2010 3:14 PM
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The more the reason to not get one. Bump case any one?

Userremoved 06/25/2010 3:25 PM
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@tradeshoes04
What is

Quote :PYAPAL
?
No seriously get off this website.

jgutz2006 06/25/2010 3:30 PM
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so the 4 does not stand for 4G but 4 Drops and your back in line for another 2 year contract or 700 bux

sunzeal 06/25/2010 3:31 PM
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I-Phone 4 really sucks, they are trying to earn more profit by using sucky materials.

r0x0r 06/25/2010 3:36 PM
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This is why I buy cheap phones (even though I miss out on "features" like targeted advertising).

Nokia 3315 lasted 5 years. I would intentionally toss it onto concrete floors just to prove a point to people. The case would break but it was just a case of snapping it back on. Baby drool in the microphone killed it lol. Now I'm using a Nokia 6300, 2 years strong.

I also had a phone that I accidently dropped a 360 on. The screen cracked and was rendered useless.

anamaniac 06/25/2010 3:40 PM
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gtvr :
"chemically strengthened alkali-aluminosilicate thin sheet glass"transparent aluminum anyone?


Gorilla Glass. My Cowon S9 has the stuff, it's pretty awesome actually.
But why not just use aluminum oxide? Sapphire glass is something I want so bad on a phone. :(

The iPhone 4 seems extremely fragile to me now. Both my phone and PSPgo have taken some pretty nasty hits (slammed down into concrete, 10 foot fall onto stone, being in the same pocket as my keys etc.).

wotan31 06/25/2010 3:46 PM
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I had a Sanyo that was literally indestructible. You could throw it up into the air, many meters, and let it land on concrete. Yes is was all scratches and scuffed to hell, but it worked perfectly in every regard. Toughest phone I've ever owned.

zaznet 06/25/2010 3:52 PM
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So this is what those guys who steal someone's brand new iPhone do with it once they elude the police? :)

Userremoved 06/25/2010 3:53 PM
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My father had one of the first Blackberry models (the grey and blue one) they would never break! It was drooped so many times and there were no scratches at all and one of his colleges had it go through a snow blower by accident and there not a scratch on it and it worked fine.

arcainumbro 06/25/2010 4:01 PM
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Everyone is missing the point. This was designed to break so in a month Apple can put out awesome numbers like "We shipped X number of iPhone 4's in the first 30 days". Doesn't mean that sold that many, just shipped them....cause a replacement phone is still shipping. :)

karm 06/25/2010 4:05 PM
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That's crazy. I think i'll stick with my blackberry. My wife accidentally dropped her curve off our 10 story balcony (slipped out of her hand). It bounced off the patio on the ground level and landed in the grass. Amazingly it just had a small scuff on the side but still works as good as new.

tinmann 06/25/2010 4:12 PM
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No signal wile being held in your hand, bans and yellow spots on screen because of rushed production, now one drop and replace at your own expense. Are we just seeing the tip of the iceberg?
Soon you'll know who the fruit followers are because they will be required to wear special apple approved aluminum beanies (with apple logo) to improve their reception.