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Drop tests have become a bit of a cultural necessity in the mobile tech kingdom, and another interesting test has been uploaded to YouTube for all to enjoy. This one comes from SquareTrade, the biggest provider of third-party warranties in the land. They obviously have some interest in tests like these considering they’ll be the ones replacing broken tablets for many of you, and what they’ve done here is interesting.
SquareTrade pitted the Nexus 7 up against the iPad Mini and the iPad 3 in what it calls a “drop and dunk” test. The drop test is actually performed using its “drop bot,” a machine that drops each device at the exact same angles and velocities. It’s pretty neat, actually, considering many people struggle to get devices to drop exactly the same in conventional drop tests.
In that portion of the trials the Nexus 7 seemed to have a considerable advantage over the two iPad devices. The first drop only saw a corner of the slab crack, though it couldn’t best the iPad Mini which only suffered some nicks on the edges. The iPad 3 was completely out of it.
The second drop — a face-down planche, if you will — proved devastating for both iPad devices, and while the Nexus 7 wasn’t completely in the clear its cracks were only minimal and didn’t do much to hamper the experience.
Finally, the “dunk” test had all 3 tablets submerged in water for the same amount of time to see how they stood up against water damage. None of the tablets seemed to malfunction, though SquareTrade erroneously suggest the Nexus 7 was unresponsive. Had they waited until it fully rebooted we would have a more accurate account of what ended up happening, but since it was turning on we assume things were OK.
We would never perform these tests on our own devices, of course, so you won’t be getting any results from us in regards to that. Just make sure that huge 7 inch slate is in your bag and not your back pocket before you start doing cannonballs all over the place. Take a look at the drop test video above.
I LOVE THESE VIDEOS >:D
ha same here. Just not when it happens to MY stuff :/ (I dropped my N7 and shattered the glass). Now what??? Seriously…
Just proves Apple Vs Everyone is like the bias in our current Presidential Election?
Ummm, the water test, the Nexus 7 only restarted, they said it wasn’t responding. At the end you see the Nexus 7 fully rebooted but they never gave it a chance >.>
Yep, I mentioned that in the article. Kind of unfair on their part.
From youtube comments
Omar411269 2 hours ago
Nexus 7 was still working after water test. Actually a smart feature (if intended) to turn off if dipped in water.
Very smart.
Damn near genius…
n7 took the least glass damage in the end too
Plus you can actually repair the N7.
Lesson of this video. Just don’t drop your tablets! :) Also if a device reboots in water try it out after it boots back up instead of saying it’s not responsive…
do we really need a lesson on that? Does it blend, drop tests, driving 60mph and throwing electronics out the window and so on…. such a waste of money and resources. If companies want to waste that much money on these stupid tests, why not give it to charity or cancer research. Lord knows Apple doesn’t. Seriously, these “tests” are derptarded.
Do you not buy any electronics and donate the money to charity to instead? At least I get something out of the money spent on their tablets; I get nothing out of the money you spend on your devices.
The test was performed by an insurance company. The tests are made to value the durability or each device and to put a number on the insurance policy. Its not a stupid test in this case.
one thing you need to know about this
if there is even a hairline in the nexus 7 screen the touch no longer functions. ( i would know.. i have one)
i dont know if the apple products still function with cracks in the screen (but how many iphone users do you know with shatters but still use them) but the nexus 7 becomes ENTIRELY unusable without external input
There is someone in my college class with an iPad 2 with literally a shattered screen, the touch screen portion still works just fine. Shame the nexus 7 doesnt have the same capabilities.
I tend to be sitting down, or have my tablet on a table when in use. I can honestly say I have never dropped my tablet. Phone is a different story…
TPU is your friend. Nuff said.
Yet another unreliable test.
Not only didn’t the tablets really hit the ground at the exact same angle, but even if they had, they wouldn’t have landed on the exact same surface.
Worse, these tests remind me of videos from guys who cook and eat insane amounts of food disgustingly, while there are people starving out there… all that waste in our industrial society is a shame.
I’ve always thought they were useless. Better would be to calculate the force at which one of these hits the ground then hit the devices with that exact force to eliminate variation.
chances are the posted the video from their iphone.
howd the ipad mini fair the best, the bloody thing smashed, with the ipad, to me the nexus 7 faired the best.
I hope people stop being interested in drop tests, aren’t we all smart enough to know that things made of/with glass break when dropped? It’s really just a waste of products and materials.
Better, but still not a scientific test. What they need to do, is insert each one of these in a press, and meter the PSI upon failure of integrity.
thats a fair drop test , but the nexus 7 held up best homeboi
Gravity was afraid that Apple would sue it.
Actually Sir Newton has the patent on apples and gravity.
nexus 7 is built by asus with low sub par R&D compared to Samsung. no @#% it’s going to lose to apple