The new Galaxy S6 Edge recently starred in an unflattering video showing how it bends like the iPhone 6 Plus, and Samsung has now responded.
For those unfamiliar with the issue, here's a quick recap: when the iPhone 6 Plus made its debut in the fall of 2014, it quickly went under a firestorm of criticism for bending and distorting under normal circumstances such as being stored in a pants pocket. Samsung gloated and took jabs at Apple, and karma apparently took note. The new Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge made their official debut in early March at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2015 and are set to hit the market on April 10 in the U.S., but how durable are they?
A few days ago, the folks over at mobile protection company Square Trade released a video showing the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge bending just like the iPhone 6 Plus under pressure, while also proving more likely to come out with a cracked screen. More specifically, Square Trade found that the Galaxy S6 Edge bent under the same amount of pressure as the iPhone 6 Plus - 110 pounds - but didn't make it in one piece, as its display cracked along the edge. Square trade further found that the iPhone 6 Plus broke at 179 pounds, while the Galaxy S6 Edge became unusable at 149 pounds. The HTC One M9 went through the same test as well, becoming unusable at 120 pounds of pressure because its power button is located at the center of the right side, and when the phone bent it could no longer be turned on.
Samsung has now released a video of its own, in response to Square Trade's video. Defending its Galaxy S6 Edge in an official blog post, the company explains that storing the smartphone in a back pocket and against a hard surface would amount to an average force of 66 pounds of pressure, which means that the Galaxy S6 Edge would not bend in one's pocket like the iPhone 6 Plus did.
Moreover, Samsung points out that it has tested its Galaxy S6 Edge to withstand up to 79 pounds of pressure. The company further highlights that the front and back sides of the smartphone are built with different durability standards, and Square Trade only demonstrated what happens to the front of the Galaxy S6 Edge when applying great pressure.
"First, the video assumes a very specific condition - 110lbf (50kgf), which rarely occurs under normal circumstances. The normal force that generated when a person presses the back pocket is approximately 66lbf (30kgf). Our internal test results indicate that the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge are not bendable even under 79lbf (32kgf), which is equivalent to putting pressure to snap a bundle of five pencils at once," Samsung explains in its blog post.
"Secondly, even though both front and back sides are exposed under the same level of pressure in normal circumstances, this test does not show the strength of the back side. Some smartphones have different durability in each the front and back sides respectively. SquareTrade has only tested the front side, which may mislead consumers about the entire durability of smartphones."
For more information on this matter, check out both Square Trade's and Samsung's videos below.
