You knew it was coming. Videos of people torturing the newest rash of iPhones are starting to emerge online, including one by SquareTrade, which shows the new iPhones being tortured in every way imaginable. So how did Apple’s latest crop hold up? Surprisingly well, with a few caveats.
Though SquareTrade’s video is clearly motivated by its business — namely, selling warranties for your new iPhone — it’s still a lot of fun to watch. In the video, both phones are put through a series of tests: First, a “slide test” to show how well the phones could endure when skidding across plastic or wood (pretty well, with very few scratches). Then, a dunk tank, where each phone survived several seconds underwater (though audio playing cut out before returning after 30 seconds).
Then, the real doozy: The drop test. Each phone endured half a dozen drops from the height you’d hold it while standing (roughly four feet). The iPhone 6 survived with only a few dings, while the 6 Plus had a structural problem in which the screen actually detached from the aluminium body. Overall, though, the SquareTrade team described these phones as Apple’s “most durable yet”.
Several other torture test videos have popped up online too, naturally. Here’s a sad, sad test of an iPhone 6 being dropped in a full sink:
While PhoneBuff’s drop test is slightly less scientific, but gives us a good look at exactly how scuffed and dented the bodies of the new phones get when dropped:
There’s three brutal videos from Rated RR, which are less indicative of how your iPhone will survive every day use and more just insanely fun to watch. Here’s a 6 Plus being frozen with liquid nitrogen, originally found on Sploid:
And how about a little blending action?
Finally, a dunk test, which comes the closest to a likely every-day phone crisis scenario:
Possibly the most useful video came from TechSmartt, which dropped not only the 6 and the 6 Plus, but the Samsung Galaxy S5 & HTC One M8, from three different heights — then compared the resulting destruction:
But what if you’re a god-fearing iPhone user who always keeps their device in an Apple-sanctioned case? TechSmartt is on it:
We’re indebted to the brave souls who sacrificed their phones for these experiments. And though it doesn’t mean we won’t fumble and destroy our own, it’s still one of the most entertaining perennial YouTube fixtures of the year. [Wall Street Journal]