Beautiful yet Fragile

The hype with the Apple iPhone X is not going to die down anytime soon, and a lot of us were quite curious at how durable it is. Youtuber JerryRigEverything did a durability test on the iPhone X, but avoided the drop test for an obvious reason. Which left us with this question: How can the iPhone X handle accidental drops with its glass back?

The answer: Very poorly. SquareTrade, which is an extended warranty company, decided to sacrifice a $999 iPhone X (and not mind the exorbitant $549 fee for most repairs) to see how much damage it can handle with several drops. Their tests, which ranges from a side drop test, face down drop test, back down drop test, to a tumble test. Here are SquareTrade’s findings:

The front and rear glass is not durable

Contrary to Apple saying that they used “the most durable glass ever” on the iPhone X, the front and rear glass is not exactly durable even with casual drops. Like previous iPhones, the iPhone X’s glass can shatter easily with a drop, so if you are a klutz, you better invest in a decent protective case for it. After all, if you can afford a $1000 smartphone, spending around $60 on a case should not hurt you either.

 

That OLED screen is very sensitive to drops

Since this is the first time Apple is using an OLED display, we will not be surprised if they are flaws with it. Aside from color shifts and burn in issues, a drop can bring that gorgeous screen into haywire, causing parts of the display to not display properly.

 

FaceID and Home Swipe malfunctions with every drop

As much as these two new features are considered an innovation (at least when it comes to Apple), they come at a cost: Those accidental drops can mess up the functionality of Home Swipe and Face ID. This does not come to a surprise for a few reasons: First, since the glass front panel is sensitive, accidentally shattering it can also damage the touch circuitry of the iPhone X.

Second, FaceID comprises of several small components—True Depth camera included—in order for it to work. A drop can easily miscalibrate the components of the True Depth camera, causing FaceID to not work properly.

 

Overall, SquareTrade mocks the iPhone, tagging it as the “The most breakable, highest-priced, most expensive to repair iPhone ever” with a high-risk breakability score of 90. Check out SquareTrade’s brutal durability test below:

 

Check out our other iPhone articles on the site:

iPhone X Selling Well Despite Absurd Prices in the Philippines?

Apple’s iPhone X Dominates All Android Phones In Benchmark Test