Posted on by Juan Carlos Bagnell

Samsung Responds to SquareTrade “Bendgate” Galaxy S6 Edge Video

Recently, gadget insurance company SquareTrade made some waves showing off a stress test of the Galaxy S6 Edge, claiming it had bending issues similar to the iPhone 6 Plus, and that it wasn’t as “bend resistant” as the HTC One M9.

Samsung today replied with a video showing how they test the durability of their phones, comparing it to the amount of force necessary to snap five pencils.

While a three point test is certainly dramatic, what’s concerned me about phone durability, since the release of the iPhone 6, has been deformation over time, especially uber-thin phones utilizing aluminum shells.

It’s all well and good that a phone can bounce back from one brief instance of extreme force, but how does it hold up to months of lower pressure “influence” exerted by pockets and the contours of the human body. In that regard, having a glass back plate might actually be a benefit, and we’ve seen (anecdotally) that the Gorilla Glass 4 shell seems pretty durable.

Does this response from Samsung assuage your concerns over claims of another “Bendgate”? Drop us a comment, and you can read Samsung’s full response below.

The Official Statement on the Smartphone Durability Test Result Conducted by SquareTrade

Recently, there have been several reports about the durability of smartphones stemming from a You Tube video posted by SquareTrade. It shows several smartphones, including the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge, being bent or broken under high pressure. In this video, the Galaxy S6 edge was broken under the pressure of 110lbf (50kgf), but there are two things that need to be addressed with regard to the video.

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.

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 this reason being, Samsung will officially deliver our statement to SquareTrade and ask them to conduct the stress test again which targets both front and back sides, and open the test result to the public.

All our devices are put rigorous high-quality validation tests before they are delivered to consumers. These tests include various conditions, such as dropping, bending, and breakage. And we are confident that all our smartphones are not bendable under daily usage.

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