The new Apple iPhone X has been out on the market for a few days only, and the jury is out over the justification of its $999 price tag. It’s the costliest smartphone launched by any company till date, and as a result, there’s a lot of debate on whether its features justify the hefty price tag or not. Now, it certainly has some solid hardware and software in place to make its price tag seem justified.
For example, its A11 Bionic chip is a performance powerhouse – it’s way better than any other chip launched to date. It also has the legendary (that’s what Apple calls it) and super fast Face recognition based authentication system. And the bezel-less display, which makes it look like something straight out of science fiction.
But what if we tell you that all of it is packed inside a fragile package of glass and steel? What if we tell you that your iPhone X is more vulnerable to a drop than any other iPhone launched till date? A proper ‘Oh shit!’ moment, isn’t it?
But that’s right. It may seem surprising, and even shocking, but being a piece of glass, iPhone X is what we had initially thought it to be: a gorgeous but fragile piece of technology! If durability is the criteria for determining the worth of this device, we feel sad to tell you that iPhone X probably fails miserably on it.
CNET’s latest drop tests have found that Apple iPhone X broke at the first drop test itself. Moreover, this happened when the phone was dropped from the height of a pant’s pocket (about 3 feet). The phone fell with its screen facing downwards, but a crack became visible on the backside of it. And when it was dropped once again, the back got, even more, cracks on it. Even the stainless steel frame couldn’t avoid the damage and got chipped where it hit the floor. That’s not something you would expect from a $999 iPhone.
The results are also quite worrying because they’re completely in contrast with Apple’s claims of “most durable glass” and “surgical-grade stainless steel”. While the phone continued to work as fine even after the drops, the visible damage on it looked like a taint on its classy look.
However, it’s also worth pointing out that this doesn’t necessarily mean that every iPhone X is gonna be broken at first drop itself. Another YouTuber running the channel of EverythingApplePro also conducted his own drop test of iPhone X, and surprisingly, the device managed to get away with all the drops from different heights in his drop test. You can see his drop test below:
CNET also conducted a scratch test on the device with keys and sandpaper. While scratches of keys were not visible on the glass front and back of iPhone X, the scratches of sandpaper were clearly visible.
The bottom line is that state of durability for this latest iPhone is not exactly clear as of now. One test has found it broken on first drop itself, and another test has found it to bear all the drops successfully. But since it’s the matter of $999, you should not take any chances. This iPhone can handle your day to day wear and tear without attracting a lot of scratches, but if it falls on the floor then only God knows what will happen. So if you’ve got it, put a durable case on it. Because if it’s broken, even the repair will cost you a lot. So take no chances and put a case on your Apple iPhone X.