By Often times than not, the debate between plastic and metal phones comes down to two issues. The first issue is style — some feel metal just looks nicer. And if a phone is built well enough, that is often the case. The second issue is durability, which has long been thought to belong to the metal-donning studs of the industry.
But a recent bend test could change that thinking. Unbox Therapy decided to put an iPhone 6+ through a rudimentary bend test. The test mechanics were simple: apply as much force in trying to bend the device with your hands as possible. How’d it do? Not well. Not only did it bend relatively easily, the screen cracked when trying to reverse the damage.
The same test being applied to the Galaxy Note 3? It basically came out like a champ. The tester claimed he applied as much force to the Note 3 as he did to the iPhone 6+ — if not more — and didn’t get much more than a slight warp in the plastic’s shape. And by “slight” we mean it was almost unnoticeable. He did note that the device made the type of sound that would make you cringe, but in the end it stood up quite firmly.
We typically wouldn’t worry too much about a bend test that puts much more pressure onto a phone than most everyday situations would, but with how big these devices are and the advent of puke-worthy skinny jeans, we’d say it has its place. Whether this issue will show up to haunt Apple in widespread fashion remains to be seen, but all we can see is be careful not to sit on that thing, or any other phone for that matter. Be sure to watch the two bend tests above and below.
And now everyone knows why going the all-metal route has consequences.
The all-metal route with poor engineering has consequences.
HTC obviously must have been aware of its risks, which would be why they stuck with its curved aluminum.
Truth
Mmmmhmm. I tried to bend my One M8 just now and the phone just laughed at me lol
Yeah. Mine almost broke my wrist. The M8 doesn’t even move.
I wouldn’t even call the iPhone poorly engineered, I would just say the race to be as light & thin as possible is what causes the bending issue on the 6 & 6+.
Wave and Bend!
http://i.imgur.com/9PjwR8Z.png
Funny as crap, lol, aye if they do this. LG I’d gonna have a blast sueing
Ahhhhhhhh,I see now………….
The LG G-FLEX has had it all wrong this whole time ;-) ……………………
You nailed it. Lol
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Xperia-Z1-frame-bending-for-no-reason-claim-users_id51383
Sony fixed that with newer phones. Apple didn’t. The 5/5S had bending issues too but nothing as bad as the 6.
Nah, it’ll just be the new cracked screen. For the life of me, I can’t go a single day without seeing at least 5 or 6 people with absolutely DESTROYED iPhone screens, spiderwebbed with cracks like they dropped a brick on it.
Oddly enough, I’ve been actually on the lookout for Android phones with cracked screens and I see FAR less, maybe one or two a week at most.
My daughter and my nephew both have iphones with cracked screens.I on the other hand and my wife and younger daughter have never had a crack android screen
Your pocket is holding it wrong! It is you and your clothes’ fault, not Apple’s. Be on the lookout for the new iPants with the patented iPocket that will be arriving just in time for the holiday season. Apple will show you how a pocket correctly holds the iPhone 6.
The screen on my Note 3 says otherwise. :-(
someone needs to do a real force test here. see how many psi it actually takes to make it bend.
Psi is a unit for pressure, not force.
Not only is the iPhone 6 UGLY but it is a very stupid design. There is a
reason most phones have at least one hard edge, which is usually the
screen side. With a full round fillet edge there is nothing to stop the
buckling. Any novice engineer/designer would know this. They could have
easily prevented this by adding some depth perpendicular to the screen
to the phones inner frame.
Preeemium materials ftw
Users are just pocketing it wrong.
Lol. Someone will show them how to pocket it.
Dang that Note 3 is a beast!!! I wonder if the Note 4 will be even better?
You can bet there have been a manager or two in Korea over the last 24 hours that have asked the engineers to quickly do this very test on a Note 4 and report back…
So how can I get my cheap plastic S4 to mimic these more premium materials? Mine just flexes a little and goes back into shape.
so it bends….but will it blend?
Probably not too well,but,the latest update might accomplish the same results:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iXvQ14Dgtw
No true iPhone user would ever stuff their phone in the back pocket. You keep it in a breast pocket, nearest your heart to express your love for it.
lmao
It would still bend :-)
It sucks to admit it, but iPhone 6 is ahead of the curve…
iphone 6 Nicknamed “boomerang”
You all are holding it wrong.
Soon Apple fan will argue apple came out with the first curved phone….
I wonder if they will release bumpers for this issue.
And all these clowns talking about samsung and cheap plastic.
Samsung phones are cheap and plastic.
So u call yourself a clown? Suit yourself :p
I could very well be a clown but am not silly enough to pay big money for flimsy plastic junk purely in the name of being hip or a Samsung fan boy.
I rather pay for a plastic phone durable than a $800 phone that bends.
I’d rather spend my money on neither and actually get something of quality that’s worth the coin.
You have not made a single solid point. metal does not equate quality.
Neither have you.
I take it that you’d happily pay $40,000 for a nylon Rolex then? Yeah thought so.
The plastics that HTC, Motorola and Nokia use are excellent quality. Samsung and also LG use cheap and tacky plastics and faux metals. Those company’s phones scream CHEAP garbage yet they charge a premium price that fanboys blindly pay simply to fit in with the rest of the flock.
That’s according to you. The note 3 for example is solidly built. And aluminum/metal does not equate to premium quality. Haven’t you red this very article that shows the 6plus bending? While the note 3 was put to the same test and nothing happened. Drop your HTC phone and enjoy all the nicks and dings, drop your note and keep on moving. Samsung has proved that you don’t need metal to be successful, HTC has proved the exact same thing but the opposite way.
Speaking of suits. Is LG going to sue Apple? First Apple copied the LG Prada and now the LG Curve.
If LG copies Apples overall trade dress to the point of demonstrably trying to show no distinction and using technologies that hard working engineers developed (sorta like what Samsung did) then no doubt Apple will sue them.
If LG stick to FRAND patents and distinguishing their phones like they currently do then no doubt Apple wont sue them.
LG’s bigger concerns are how they get outta the OHA they are in that limits their potential to differentiate their products from others leaving them exposed to the commoditisation of the Android market.
Hmm I have dropped my Samsung gs4 yes out of the pocket as well.. Hmm it still works and have not broken….
Drop tests show it all depends on surface it drops on, height, angle, rotation…too many variables. Big deal if you dropped your phone and it survived…I bet that offers no confidence for you to do it on a regular basis.
Not exactly true. Samsung apparently use expensive plastic….its just that plastic is not as good as metal for durability.
Plastic does have better “memory” so it flexes back more readily than metal but plastic wears out quicker and has to be thicker to offer the same rigidity.
If you bend your phone to the point of no return then bad luck I says. It ain’t a toy.
The galaxy Note 2 was terribly fragile. I’ve seen just as many broken ones of them as Iphones.
Well, you know, when you don’t take care of your phone…
Accidentally dropping a phone from waist height isn’t what I call not looking after a phone. Samsung use C grade parts and have forever.
Source for that claim?
http://www.samsung.com
Your Note 2 is two years old. Forgive me for assuming both companies would produce better products as time passes. I guess only one of them got it right.
Perhaps Samsung could lift their game and soon be the other one….except their phone sales have tanked and cheaper Android phones with the exact same features (minus Touchwiz which sucks anyway) are already cutting their lunch.
Well, there were rumors that it would have a flexible display… So I guess they were right? Ish? Maybe? A little?
…
You’re bending it wrong. Just as with the “You’re holding it wrong” of the antenna-gate iPhone for which iFanboys would gladly have the pinky and ring finger of their left hand removed; any true iFanboy worth their Apple logo will not mind having a bent phone.
In fact, they will say it is a feature. A benefit unique to Apple users alone.
Apple is the come-lately to the phone business. Others have been making phones for decades. Yet Apple, in true Microsoftian fashion will stoop to any depth to try to stop competitors from competing in a market that is God’s Divine Gift To Apple.
Only 9 complaints to Apple so far regarding bent iPhone 6 Plus’s. Another storm in a tea cup issue that is non existent. Wonder how many other phones get returned because it is dropped and the case cracks or screen cracks, How many others phones suffer from someone sitting on itoe leaving it water or near heat and the battery expands. I remember stories about Samsung phones “exploding”, etc, etc. Oh that’s right…..these rarely even make social media little lone main stream media because no one cares. At least iPhone users have somewhere to go to discuss their issues no matter how much it was their own damn dumb fault.
I am sure your phone model has no issues so just be glad with whatever you have.
I don’t have any issues with my phone. A Samsung Galaxy S5 btw. It’s water proof to over a meter. Has fantastic battery life (due to humongous battery). Has replaceable battery, removable back. And it won’t bend in my pocket from sitting on it. Samsung’s AMOLED displays are actually bendable (actually formed on something like celophane). The gorilla glass is also somewhat bendable.
I seem to remember stories of Apple phones having dangerous bettery problems. http://goo.gl/1lWtXG
Android zealot breaks iPhone with unspecified physical force; move along, nothing to see here.
the note 3 never felt cheap to me as described by them haters.