Samsung’s recently unveiled Galaxy Note 7 is one of the best phablets out there. Recently, DisplayMate said the Note 7 has the best display they have ever tested. And now it was time to test its durability. The Note 7 comes with the latest Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on the front as well as back, and a metal frame on the edge. Corning claims that its 5th generation Gorilla Glass can survive drops on “rough, unforgivable surfaces” four times better than competitive products.
The front of the Galaxy Note 7 survives the drop test, but…
In lab tests, Corning found that its new chemically-treated glass survives up to 80% of the time when dropped face-down from a height of 5.25-feet (1.6 meters) on rough surfaces. That seems impressive, at least on paper. The Galaxy Note 7 is the first smartphone to come with the 5th generation Gorilla Glass. So, how would it fare in real-life drop tests? Folks behind the YouTube channel XEETECHCARE conducted a drop test to answer that question.
The video shows the Note 7 being dropped on to the pavement. The metal frame protects the phablet only when it falls on the edge. In a face-down drop test, the front of the device came out with flying colors, though there was a small scratch on the top-left. The rear of the Note 7 got chipped on the bottom right edge. You can also see a hairline crack even though the device was dropped from waist height.
Unprecedented demand for the Note 7
In the side drop test, the S Pen stylus popped out due to the impact. The glass was unscathed, but you could notice scratches on the S Pen area. The Note 7 features a 5.7-inch QHD Super AMOLED display and an iris scanner for enhanced security. In the US, Samsung is offering a free Gear Fit 2 or a 256GB microSD card on the purchase of the Note 7.
Samsung has seen better than expected market demand for the Galaxy Note 7. The Korean company had to delay its release dates in several countries including the Netherlands, Malaysia, Russia and Ukraine has demand exceeded its production plans. Samsung has started taking pre-orders for the Note 7 in Europe, but has put a cap on the pre-order stock due to “unprecedented” demand.
