Consumer Reports: How easily does an iPhone bend?
CHICAGO -- This YouTube video sparked a viral storm about the new iPhone bending.
Now Consumer Reports has taken one sample each of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus along with other comparably-sized competitors into its labs for stress testing. Using this special Instron machine, testers apply force to the phones until they deform.
"Turns out, it takes a lot of force to permanently bend one of these new iPhones - and all the other phones we tested for that matter." Glenn Derene of Consumer Reports
Even the phones that bent first - the iPhone 6 and the HTC One M8 - took 70 pounds of force before bending permanently.
The iPhone 6 Plus took more punishment at 90 pounds. The smaller, thicker iPhone 5 outperformed both in the tests, with no noticeable deformation until 130 pounds.
Finally, the LG G3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 3 sprang back to form until the testers applied 130 pounds and 150 pounds respectively. At that point, their screens separated from their cases and stopped working.
So what's the bottom line?
Consumer Reports says, based on its comparative tests, while the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are not the strongest phones on the market, fears of a serious structural design flaw seem overblown.
Apple's official response is: "With normal use, a bend in (an) iPhone is extremely rare and through our first six days of sale, a total of nine customers have contacted Apple with a bent iPhone 6 Plus."
All Consumer Reports Material Copyright 2014. Consumers Union of U.S. Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Consumer Reports is a not for profit organization which accepts no advertising. It has no commercial relationship with any advertiser or sponsor on this site. For more information visit consumer.org
