So I don't do drop tests on cell phones for multiple reasons.
Mostly because to get an accurate idea of how well a cell phone does during a drop,
you would need multiple cell phones, you know, 5 or 10.
And my wallet can't handle that – I'm just one guy.
Plus every drop is a little bit different.
Some will drop from, you know, when you're sitting down, on your leg and it will just
slide off.
Some phones will drop when you pull it out of your pocket and accidentally let it go.
It's hard to come up with just one test to cover all the different kinds of drops.
But every now and then I'll make an exception, like with the Xiaomi Mi Mix phone that came
out about a year ago.
That phone is made out of ceramic and I wanted to see how that held up against a drop.
This phone, the Essential phone, is in a similar situation.
The back is made out of ceramic, the front is Gorilla Glass 5, and the sides are made
out of titanium.
So it'll be interesting to see what's damaged first in a drop.
So let's see what happens.
[Intro]
Alright, so in order to do this drop test I have two cameras set up.
I'll have my Essential phone sitting on my lap right here and I'll just stand up and
let it fall to the ground,you know, just like a normal everyday drop situation.
Then here I have my Galaxy Note 8 which is filming in slow motion.
This is the one I took the color off the back – it's clear.
And this is my Galaxy S8, which is very scientifically situated on top of this tripod, also filming
in slow motion.
So here we have the phone, it is in 100% working condition right now.
It's kind of bright outside but you can still see the screen moving.
It does have a couple imperfections on it, which is another reason I don't do drop tests,
because I've already compromised the integrity of the ceramic panel, as well as the front
glass, the Gorilla Glass 5 and the ceramic on the back.
You know, the sides have scratches too, but you know, a scratch doesn't compromise metal
as much as it does ceramic and glass.
I set it on my knee like this.
It actually just likes off well enough that we're just going to leave it like that.
[Music]
So coming from my knee, it doesn't look like there is any damage done on the back yet.
Oh, wow.
I did not think that was going to happen.
I thought that the plastic ring around the edge would help the glass not crack.
That's way interesting.
It still is functioning underneath the glass, so that's good.
Another interesting thing is that my scratch marks right here from my Mohs picks are right
here and right here, and the crack emanated from over here on the side and down here on
the bottom corner.
Let's do it again and see if anything happens to the back panel.
We'll just let it slide off my leg naturally.
[Music]
Back panel is still fine.
If I were to stand up from about pocket height...
[Music]
Still nothing on the back panel.
The front is just as cracked as it was during that first drop.
Waist height with the back facing down.
That was a pretty solid drop.
[Music]
And the back is still fine.
That's impressive.
The screen is just the same as it was on that first drop.
That might have just been an extremely unlucky first drop.
Let's give it one more shot, waist height, straight down on the back.
So if we're looking at the ceramic, we got the crack in the corner there.
Looks like the screen...oh, it looks like the screen took some major damage on that
last one.
The ceramic up here on the top corner looks alright.
The plastic is what...you know, that plastic surrounding the lip is what's really damaged.
You have my scratch marks...but other than my scratch marks, the ceramic looks pretty
undamaged.
The back panel is still 100% fine.
No scratched besides the ones that I put on it.
And the screen is just roasted.
It's like we're missing entire chunks of glass out of the front.
That's crazy.
Since the screen is already broken, we're going to try it one more time from head height...right
about here.
And we'll see if we can get the back ceramic panel to damage.
[Music]
Even from a head-height drop, the back panel doesn't do anything on cement.
Now, the screen is still completely destroyed though.
Last time.
Head height.
[Music]
And the back panel is still fine.
I guess getting a screen protector for this thing would be a good idea because a screen
protector does help the glass hold together, especially in drops.
So even though a drop test isn't incredibly scientific, I still think it's super super
interesting.
Personally, I though that the back was going to be the first thing that breaks since ceramic
has a much higher rating on Mohs scale of hardness.
It's more brittle.
The glass, the Gorilla Glass 5, should have lasted a little bit longer in my opinion,
but drops are so hard to predict.
Now the good news is that since the back didn't break and the side titanium didn't really
damage, the screen is the easiest thing to protect on the whole cell phone.
Obviously a case would help an extraordinary amount, but a screen protector would do a
lot as well, whether it's the plastic kind of screen protectors or the glass screen protectors.
If it were to drop, fall, hit a rock, the first thing that absorbs that impact is the
screen protector itself and not the more expensive screen of the phone.
So a screen protector and a case are pretty important no matter what cell phone you own.
I am going to attempt a tear down of this phone, even though the replacement parts probably
aren't available for it.
It will be interesting to see how the phone is built from the inside, and what components
can be replaced and what components can't.
So hit that subscribe button.
Hit the thumbs up if you liked this drop test and if you want me to do more in the future
on different phones.
Not every phone, because like I said, drops are so unpredictable and it's hard to make
a scientific test for every single phone without buying like 10 of them.
Anyway, thanks a ton for watching, and I'll see you around.
[Music]