Galaxy S10 Plus ceramic / glass: which phone survived our fall test?

The new Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus has the same signature curves and aluminum frame as the previous models. It's a great combination that has not managed to survive our fall tests. The rear windows of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S9 have cracked on the first hip height drop.

However, this time, the glass on the front of the S10 Plus is made of Gorilla glass 6 while the back is covered with Gorilla 5 glass or ceramic, at your choice. Previous models had Gorilla Glass 5 on both sides.

But buying the S10 Plus ceramic will cost you at least $ 250 more than the $ 128 980 basic model of the S10 Plus. The reason is that ceramic is only available in the most expensive storage option, 512 GB or 1 TB. In addition to the higher storage capacity, durability is the main reason you would spend more on a model. ceramic. Samsung notes that ceramic models have extra strength, durability, and scratch resistance over their glass counterparts.

To verify Samsung's claims and determine how much S10 Plus ceramic is much harder than glass, we submitted a S10 Plus Prism Blue and S10 Plus Black Ceramic to a drop test.

It should be noted that both phones come with a preinstalled screen protector. Samsung recommends keeping it on the phones, so it's exactly how we abandoned them.

Drop 1: hip height (3 feet), back to the floor

I started with a pocket height drop, or about 3 feet (90 cm) with the back hit first to test the two different materials. It's a natural height from which people tend to drop their phones. It's also the same impact that has cracked the backs of our Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S8.

The aluminum frames on both phones cushioned the fall a little, but they both hit the back first as expected. The glass 1 bounces off the ground, topples through the air and actually lands with its back facing up.

S10 Plus Glass

I could immediately see that the back window of the phone had survived with just a little debris from the cement sidewalk and some small scratches on the glass just where it curved to the aluminum frame. The screen protector of our S10 Plus glass already had some bubbles and debris during the inspection, but nothing serious to the front. The damage mainly affected the frame, with some scratches on the top edge between the glass where it was probably touched first.

Ceramic S10 Plus

S10 Plus ceramic had similar damage, with only two tiny, lighter colored spots on the upper right corner of the ceramic backrest and some scratches on the aluminum frame.

Drop 2: hip height (3 feet), side of the screen down

Then we repeated the same fall, but the screen was facing down. At this point, the screen protector was still enabled on both phones.

Neither of them landed completely flat on the ground, but they first touched the screen, then bounced back, turned and placed their final reception screen up.

S10 Plus Glass

The screen protectors on both phones were visibly damaged, with cement debris making bubbles beneath the surface. I decided to remove them at this point as they hindered visibility and I needed to assess the damage underneath. Only the sides of the glass screen not covered by the screen protector showed visible damage. There was some minor scratching on the bottom corner of the glass, but the most visible scratches were visible again on the frame.

Ceramic S10 Plus

After removing the screen protector from the ceramic model, I noticed some small bumps on the lower right side of the glass, just at the point where the screen protector ends and where the glass begins to bend to meet the aluminum frame. This might not have been noticeable unless you were looking for it, but it was enough to compromise the integrity of the glass.

Even with some bumps and bruises, these phones had already proven to be more robust than their predecessors after surviving two 3 foot falls. So we continued.

Drop 3: eye level (5 feet), back down

This time, we took them up to one meter before dropping them on the sidewalk, back to back, to test the back of the glass and the ceramic. The S10 Plus glass landed almost flat on the ground with a slap sound, while the ceramic phone rocked over mid-autumn and landed on the screen (not as we did it). had planned).

S10 Plus Glass

I did not even have to call the phone to find out what was going to happen: the sound was everything. And of course, the glass on the back (including that of the three-camera module) was completely broken. His spider webs extend from the right side of the phone upwards, moving upward and ending on the other side. With two of the three camera modules completely blocked by cracks on the glass covering them. The aluminum frame also had some extra hits on the side touched, but the screen, which was not touching the ground this time, was still in working order, as expected.

Ceramic S10 Plus

The ceramic back did not look worse for wear. But the screen of this phone, which is responsible for most of the impact, was broken – the glass and the AMOLED module at the back did not even light up. The only evidence of a smooth operation of the screen was a thin flickering band at the top, the rest being black. There were some capillary fractures all over the front of the class, but the most affected areas were the corners. The top two corners of the glass had been broken, while the lower left corner of the glass was the size of a pencil lead and exposed the inside of the phone. The aluminum frame just below this corner was also severely scratched, dented and recessed.

Drop 4: eye level (5 feet), back down

Because we mainly wanted to test the hardware on the back of the phones, we decided to remove the S10 Plus glass and perform the same five-foot test on the ceramic phone.

Ceramic S10 Plus

This time, the ceramic was hit as expected, but it bounced a bit before landing. Obviously, the screen had been rendered useless at this point, but the back did not even seem to have been dropped and I had trouble finding additional damage. There were always two small specs of the original drop, and some tiny marks on the metal camera frame, but that was all. It's time to increase the stakes!

Drop 5: Above my head (6 feet +), back down

At this point, we only wanted to test the ceramic, so we continued with a fall as high as possible, with two hands (just over 6 feet).

Ceramic S10 Plus

The magnitude of this fall, coupled with the fact that my hands were shaking on this unusually cold day in San Francisco, made it difficult to hold the phone before hanging it up. So, although he landed in the back and even slipped on the cement sidewalk, the sides of the phone suffered the bulk of the impact. That said, I was still shocked to find that the ceramic did not suffer any additional damage, not even a scratch. The aluminum frame of the camera had some extra bumps, but this is minimal considering the height at which it was dropped and the fact that it was the fourth fall of this phone. That's why we decided to drop it one last time.

Drop 5: Above my head (6 feet +), back again

The phone bounces a little on the lower edges before landing flat on the ground, back turned as expected.

Ceramic S10 Plus

When I first leaned and returned, I could not see any damage to the back of this phone, which I had difficulty believing at this point. But on closer inspection, I noticed a small fracture on the glass that covered the camera module with a barely visible line passing through the flash and the third lens. The ceramic seemed almost pristine, with only a few microscopic specifications (smaller than a grain of sand) near the edge, where the ceramic curves in the frame.

Let's break it down

Based on this highly unscientific test, it seems that Samsung's claims are correct: the ceramic back of the S10 Plus is stronger and scratch-resistant than its glass counterpart. If you are prone to accidents or want to drop this phone without a case, the investment may be worth it.

But as we saw in our tests, a stronger back does not guarantee a stronger screen. So, even if you decide to splurge on the S10 Plus ceramic, you still need to leave the screen protector provided by Samsung on the phone, buy a third-party screen protector or place a holster with it. a thicker bumper that protects the exposed edges.

This does not mean that you should go without a case on this one. I will always cover it with a case as soon as you take it out of the box or if you fail the warranty.