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Gorilla glass must be really durable

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QueBert said:
my roommate dropped my EVO 4g from no more than 2 feet onto a hard floor. Phone had never been dropped once before that. The screen shattered badly, that's the 1st time I've ever had experience with dropping a phone. But for me Gorilla Glass isn't impressive at all.
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I thought you didnt know anyone that had dropped their phone and that it was a really unlikely thing to happen?
 
gorila glass doesn't really help a phone's brittleness. it is for scratch resistance.

the reason some phones crack easy and some dont is mostly due to the rigidity of the phone. plastic absorbs impacts a lot better than uh glass or metal, so it doesnt transmit shock through to the glass unless you hit it at say a corner where it is more likely to transfer pressure to a single point on the edge of the glass.

its like crumple zones in cars. plastic is a better crumple zone than a sleek aluminum and glass casing like say an iphone (which is idiotically designed for any real durability it seems). when you drop a samsung or htc phone with a removeable battery cover the cover pops off a lot. that is letting the shock energy be released (it is what makes the panel pop off with force)

i haven't taken a physics class in years, bu tthe energy transferred into the phone will either cause crystals to break their lattice or plastic to get a gouge in it, or metal to warp or things to move until its all absorbed
 
I cracked my Gnex on the first bad drop. It could just be bad luck but I dropped my OG Droid many many times over the past 2.5 years and it took it like a champ. I think physics dictates that larger screened phones are much more vulnerable to cracking all else held equal.
 
WelshBloke said:
I thought you didnt know anyone that had dropped their phone and that it was a really unlikely thing to happen?
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I said that before my moron roommate dropped my phone on purpose. I haven't dropped any of the probably 30 different cell phones I've owned. I must be special though right?
 
I dropped my iphone4 flat on the ground and broke the LCD. Maybe a 2' drop at very very worst.


Gorilla glass is great, but like most tempered glass, if you bump it in just the right spot it will shatter. In most locations and situations it's very durable..
 
JD50 said:
You have THE worst experience with phones.
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QueBert is the "Alkemyst" of phones.

Alkemyst has experienced every life story there is for anyone to ever experience.
QueBert has experienced every life story there is about phones for anyone to ever experience.
 
hans007 said:
gorila glass doesn't really help a phone's brittleness. it is for scratch resistance.

the reason some phones crack easy and some dont is mostly due to the rigidity of the phone. plastic absorbs impacts a lot better than uh glass or metal, so it doesnt transmit shock through to the glass unless you hit it at say a corner where it is more likely to transfer pressure to a single point on the edge of the glass.

its like crumple zones in cars. plastic is a better crumple zone than a sleek aluminum and glass casing like say an iphone (which is idiotically designed for any real durability it seems). when you drop a samsung or htc phone with a removeable battery cover the cover pops off a lot. that is letting the shock energy be released (it is what makes the panel pop off with force)

i haven't taken a physics class in years, bu tthe energy transferred into the phone will either cause crystals to break their lattice or plastic to get a gouge in it, or metal to warp or things to move until its all absorbed
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So when my phone fell the plastic cover loosening it up is a good thing because it means that the plastic portion absorbed most of the impact?
 
I think the impact gets partly turned into motion. Energy of gravity motion goes into phone at least some of it causes plastic to flex and the flex causes it to pop because flexing is the drop energy being made into potential energy. Like so springs.

I'm not a mechanical engineer but like high school physics type concept
 
the DRIZZLE said:
I cracked my Gnex on the first bad drop. It could just be bad luck but I dropped my OG Droid many many times over the past 2.5 years and it took it like a champ. I think physics dictates that larger screened phones are much more vulnerable to cracking all else held equal.
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Probably just luck, dropped my gn far more than my Droid and so far its fine. Might help I have a rubber case around it, probably absorbs some impact.
 
I came in to say the same thing hans007 already has: it's the plastic that makes the sgs2 relatively durable, along with the light weight. A plastic body is the key to durability in any current smartphone. GG is impressively scratch resistant but isn't at all notable for crack resistance.
 
SpatiallyAware said:
I dropped my iphone4 flat on the ground and broke the LCD. Maybe a 2' drop at very very worst.


Gorilla glass is great, but like most tempered glass, if you bump it in just the right spot it will shatter. In most locations and situations it's very durable..
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And since, for durability, the iphone design is terrible. GG's biggest weakness? It's edges. And the Iphone doesn't protect them.
 
Those SGS2s can take a beating, I've dropped mine in puddles of water, while running and on my bike. Still not one scratch on the screen 😀
 
I haven't broke a screen yet (crosses fingers) I dropped a thunderbolt about 5ft face down on some hard as white tile, it hit hard enough for the battery door and battery to come off I was scared to fill it over but it was fine. Really its all in how u drop it
 
i think it heavily depends on how your phone drops. Dropping it flat on the ground distributes the force more evenly while dropping it on a corner doesn't... this is just one variable in many (weight of the phone, what you dropped it on, etc...)

I've gotten lucky myself and haven't cracked the glass on any phone I have had (iphones, evos, and currently galaxy nexus)
 
QueBert said:
I said that before my moron roommate dropped my phone on purpose. I haven't dropped any of the probably 30 different cell phones I've owned. I must be special though right?
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ya, thats the exception, not the rule. everyone i know with a phone has dropped it at least once, regardless of how careful they are. ive dropped mine a few times and im very diligent about how i handle it. it has yet to break tho. i have the dX still, no case. the one serious drop was face down onto my slate tile floor from about 5 ft. to make it worse, i tried to catch it and ended up pushing it to the floor faster. i almost didnt pick it up, expecting the worst. my ex SiL has the same phone, and someone told her the GG was kick ass and she didnt need a screen protector, so she kept it in her purse without anything on it. 2 months down the road and she has all kinds of swirlies and baby scratches all over the screen, and mine looks brand new, since ive always used a screen protector. but, given that mine sees many industrial applications daily, i am foolish for not having a case on it.
 
I've dropped my S2 a fair number of times onto the pavement. The screen is totally fine, but the bezel around the screen has picked up a number of minor chips. Pretty happy with how it's held up. Although it is funny to see everyone go, "Ohhh shit" when you drop it and the back cover pops off and then the battery flies out.
 
I had my thunderbolt fly out of the armband I had it in while I was doing jumping jacks. Landed hard enough to knock the battery out of it, and it survived fine. It's still nearly flawless looking to this day and it's about a year old and completely unprotected. A friend of mine was flabbergasted when he saw it and asked how I kept it looking like that and I just kind of shrugged don't usually put it in the same pocket as my keys?... I saw phone (some windows 7 one) it had all sorts of deep scratches and crap.
 
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