The iPhone 8 Plus’ glass body isn’t as sturdy as Apple claims

Unless you have been living under a rock, you would know that Apple recently launched its trio of iPhones – iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X. Apart from the usual performance upgrades and futuristic design on the iPhone X, one of the tall claims made by the Cupertino giant was that the glass body of these iPhones uses the strongest glass till date on a smartphone. This definitely managed to pique the interest of phone durability testers like PhoneBuff (known for extreme drop tests) and JerryRigEverything.

In his latest video, David Rahimi of PhoneBuff put the iPhone 8 Plus and Samsung Galaxy Note8 (unboxing and first impressions), the two most high-end smartphones in the market right now, through his standard 3-round drop tests as well as a bonus round. In the first round, which is the back drop test, both the Apple iPhone 8 Plus and the Samsung Galaxy Note8 were dropped from the same height, flat on the back. While the front panel and chassis remain unscathed, the back panel of both smartphones shattered, the iPhone 8 Plus more so. In the next test, the phones were dropped at an angle on their corners and both of them received similar scuff marks on the metal frame, which is pretty normal. However, in the last round – the face drop test, the smartphones were dropped face first on the concrete and that was the last straw. While the Galaxy Note8 flaunting Gorilla Glass 5 received minor cracks on the corner, the iPhone 8 Plus suffered from serious webbing on the top and bottom of the display.

Moving on to the bonus round, it basically includes the device being dropped from a fixed height over and over again on a steel platform, usually 10 times. The first to face the guillotine was the Galaxy Note8, which while suffering from a shattered display and failed camera app, continued to work smoothly. However, the iPhone 8 Plus was a different story altogether, as chunks of glass went flying by the 5th drop, revealing the metal chassis underneath. By the 8th drop, the phone completely gave up, with a non-responsive display and blacked out LCD panel in top right corner.

Famed Youtuber Zach Nelson of JerryRigEverything also found the iPhone 8 Plus shattering in just a couple of drops and suggests using a protective case. The bottom line here is that while Apple might be claiming that the glass panels on the iPhone 8 duo and X are the sturdiest till date, they’re still very much prone to cracking (or worse) when dropped. You will still need to use a protective cover to safeguard the handset if you drop your phone.