Samsung announced its latest flagship device, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 a few weeks back at its Unpacked Event in New York. The Galaxy Note 7 happens to be a device of quite a number of firsts such as the first smartphone to feature iris scanning capabilities and to sport Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on its display, resulting in a nearly shatterproof display. While Corning Gorilla Glass 5 is nearly shatterproof, how does it hold up against scratches? This is where YouTuber JerryRigEverything comes in, as he tests all kinds of smartphones to its limits so you won’t have to do it yourself.
In a video posted by Zack or better known as JerryRigEverything, he puts the Galaxy Note 7 against various durability tests, starting with the display of the device. Zack performs a scratch test on the display and surprisingly, it scratches fairly easily at level 3 on Mohs scale of hardness. In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge display showed scratches at level 6. This goes to show that Gorilla Glass 5 may be shatter resistant but not as scratch resistant as Gorilla Glass 4. Shatter resistance often requires the panel to be a little softer so that the material is less brittle and more flexible during an impact. Zack then moves on to scratching the home button and after doing so, he tried out the fingerprint sensor located on the home button which failed to function after being scratched. Next up was the rear camera sensor which has lenses made out of glass and seemed pretty durable when the scratch test was performed on it, leaving no scratches in the aftermath. However, the LED-flash beside the camera sensor was easily scratched as it is only protected by a plastic covering.
Zack also tests the durability of the S-Pen which is made out of a combination of metal and plastic by performing a scratch test on it. The YouTuber then proceeds to perform a flame test on the display of the Galaxy Note 7. The pixels on the screen started turning white just after 8 seconds, compared to the 50 seconds the Moto Z managed to handle. In the last test, Zack performed the famous bend test on the device, and it managed to spring back into its original shape after being bent. While the display of the Galaxy Note 7 may be easily scratched, this can be easily solved by getting a screen protector or a tempered glass to protect it from scratches. The durability test by JerryRigEverything can be viewed below.