iPhone XS vs. sidewalk: did it survive our fall test?

I did my part of the drop tests of my time at CNET, and I never went out without a broken phone. Until now. The iPhone XS has not cracked.

I took the new iPhone XS from Apple through my classic four-drop tests, the same cracked the iPhone X from last year the first fall. But while the new iPhone XS looks a lot like last year's X, with a stainless steel frame and glass on each side, this time it may be the glass that sets it apart. iPhone XS – and even more.

AT last week's launchApple Marketing Manager Phil Schiller said the iPhone XS is "covered in the front and back with a new glass formulation that is the most durable glass ever made on a smartphone."

This is not the first time we hear that at Apple. In fact, Apple also said that last year's iPhone range had "the most durable glass ever integrated into a smartphone," and you know it. what happened to our iPhone X.

I've submitted a brand new iPhone XS in gold to a series of drops on the cement sidewalk outside the CNET headquarters in San Francisco, where many of our phones have met their loss.

To be clear, these tests are not scientific, but they are concrete demonstrations of what could happen when your phone breaks down. The results tend to vary from one drop to the other. And yes, I still plan to see how much abuse this iPhone XS can take before it finally cracks.

Drop 1: Height of the pocket (3 feet), screen side down

I started with a drop in the height of the pocket, about 3 feet (90 cm). It's a natural height from which people tend to drop their phones. This is also the same impact as last year 's iPhone X.

I wanted to first test the most important part of the phone, so I dropped it on the screen side. The top edge of the screen broke the fall, and then the XS bounced off the bottom edge and made a small return to the air before landing again, this time completely face down.

Our iPhone XS seemed intact during the first inspection, with the exception of some scratches on the metal frame. But on closer inspection, I noticed that most of the "damage" was cement debris that had just rubbed. The glass on the edge of the screen near the upper left corner had a small hollow, but it was barely noticeable and there was no crack on either side.

Considering that the iPhone X of last year had already been launched at this stage, I would say that it is already a victory for our iPhone XS – so far. But the tests continued.

Drop 2: Height of the pocket (3 feet), screen side up

Then I wanted to test the window on the back, so I dropped the iPhone XS at the same height (3 feet), this time with the screen up.

This time, the phone changed position in the air and landed on the upper left side, not on his face. After this initial impact, he bounced to the side of this stainless steel frame and then to his back for his final landing.

Once again, it was difficult to determine the damage. The frame seemed to have suffered some scratches. There were small bumps on the golden finish of the stainless steel, the size of a grain of sand. The glass at the front and the back of the phone was still intact.

With that one, I decided to go even higher.

Drop 3: eye level (5 feet), free fall

For my next fall, I wanted to wear it at eye level, which is about how high it would fall from your hands if you take a picture.

I held the phone in landscape mode with the screen in front of me and I let it go.

Once again, the steel frame broke the fall of the iPhone XS. The first point of impact was the top left corner of the phone, then bounced off the bottom corner, turned to hit the bottom edge, then slid and landed on the side of the screen on the sidewalk.

The tiny bumps in the upper left corner of the frame were multiplied, but I had to inspect it closely to notice. Everything else still looked exactly like it. No major damage.

Drop 4: eye level (5 feet), screen side down

I was running out of time to pull our fall test and the glass of the iPhone XS was still intact. For the last test, I decided to let it drop to 1.5 meters (5 feet), but this time with the face-down screen.

Once again, the phone did not land exactly as I wanted it to. Instead, he landed in the top right corner toward the camera facing the rear, then made a few rollovers before landing with the screen up.

This time, there was a lot of cement debris on the camera, which made me think she had been scratched. It has cleared easily. The edge of the bump where the rear-facing camera has some bumps the size of the grain on top, but the camera's lens did not break. And everything else still looked the same as before this second 5-foot drop.

The breakdown

Based on the resemblance between the iPhone XS and its predecessor, the iPhone X, I expected it to break as soon as the first or second drop. Clearly, I was wrong.

After four 5-foot drops on the concrete sidewalk, this iPhone XS came out almost intact. There are some small bumps and scratches on the frame and on the side of the camera, but the glass is almost perfect.

Does this mean that the glass of the iPhone XS is stronger? It's a hard call to make, given the nature of our tests. But I can tell you that the result was significantly better than last year's iPhone X, with cracks on both sides and tiny pieces of glass falling off the edges after just two drops of hip height.

I contacted Apple for more information, but the company declined to give more details about the glass of the iPhone XS compared to that of the iPhone X. We know that Corning has provided glass for older iPhones, not the iPhone XS is covered in the latest Gorilla Glass 6 from Corning. Corning also declined to comment on this story.

I would still recommend putting a holster on your iPhone XS and XS Max for over $ 1,000 for peace of mind. After all, it will cost you $ 279 to replace the XS screen and $ 329 for the XS Max (without the AppleCare + cover). But maybe that means you can be a little more confident with them.

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