iPhone XR Drop Tests Yield Encouraging Results Against Last Year’s iPhone 8
The results of the first iPhone XR drop tests are in, and it appears that Apple’s newly released budget-priced phone is substantially more durable than the previous year’s iPhone 8. However, one of the tests suggests that iPhone XR’s camera might be more susceptible to damage when dropped from certain angles.
In a report published Saturday, 9to5Mac collated the findings from multiple iPhone XR durability tests that were performed on the device in recent days. These included a test conducted by the EverythingApplePro YouTube channel, which revealed that the newer device was significantly sturdier than the iPhone 8 when subjected to most types of drops.
As seen on the video, the iPhone 8’s display became cracked and unusable when it was dropped at eye level with the screen facing down, while the XR survived that test, as well as another where it was dropped screen side up from a height of about nine feet from the ground.
In the end, the iPhone XR only stopped functioning after it was put through the final test, which saw the handset getting dropped screen side-down from nine feet. According to 9to5Mac, it was also observed that the XR had a larger rear camera bump than the iPhone 8 once all the tests were completed, which the publication noted is a sign that the former device’s camera might have some durability issues “depending on the angle of the drop.”
The iPhone XR put up a good fight in our drop test https://t.co/GkxBZlQEUY pic.twitter.com/pcd1xmaWUc
— CNET (@CNET) October 27, 2018
On Saturday, CNET conducted its own tests on the iPhone XR, which involved four separate drops — two drops from pocket height with the screen side down, a free fall from eye level, and an eye-level drop with the screen facing down. CNET wrote that the iPhone XR was still in “fighting shape” after the first three drops, but added that the fourth and final drop caused the rear camera to break, while also resulting in prominent scratches on the phone’s display.
“What is clear to me is that Apple has made the glass on its new phones stronger than its predecessors. Both the iPhone XR and the iPhone XS held up longer than last year’s iPhones 8 and X, and even some of its competitors,” wrote CNET’s Vanessa Hand Orellana.
Separate from the two iPhone XR drop tests, YouTuber JerryRigEverything conducted different types of durability tests on the new device, starting out by using a cutter to scratch various parts of the phone, including its screen, back panel, camera, speaker grille, and anodized aluminum edges. While this first test left most of the aforementioned parts, especially the aluminum edges, with visible scratches and other markings, the XR was able to recover its lost pixels after JerryRigEverything tried “burning” the display with a lighter, and proved to be durable when bent from the front and back.
