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Last month we did a scratch and drop test with a brand new iPhone 12 and the glass held up a lot better than we anticipated.
Well after that test, a lot of people are asking to see if the iPhone 12 mini could stand up to the same torture.
Well, I've got one right here and we're about to find out.
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The whole iPhone 12 line has a new type of glass that Apple called ceramic shield.
Joining me right now is our resident glass expert Vanessa who's going to help us through what we're seeing in our test today.
Are you ready for another drop test Vanessa?
Hey Chris, I'm definitely ready for round two with the mini.
Well, I'm ready to drop this thing but before I do, why don't you give us a little refresher why Apple thinks this glass is so special.
With the iPhone 12, Apple introduced a completely new type of cover material called ceramic shield which is basically glass infused with nanoceramic crystals making it the toughest glass ever on a smartphone.
And of course we have no way of knowing if this is true because our tests aren't scientific.
But given our experience with the iPhone 12, I would say that this glass is as tough as it sounds.
It just refused to break at least the screen side even after being dropped repeatedly from nine feet.
Now the back of the phone is a different story because it's not made of the same glass.
So if you're curious to see the results from that video, we're gonna link that below.
Now since the glass on the mini is the same as the iPhone 12, we're gonna forgo the scratch test this time, but we still wanted see how the smaller frame held up to the drop test.
For our test today, we're gonna start out with pocket height like usual.
We're gonna drop it from about three feet on the face and then on the back.
Then if it's still surviving after that, we'll go up to six feet front and back, and then we'll take a look where we are at that point and see if we need to go higher, maybe all the way up to nine feet.
All right Chris, why don't you get started with that first drop from three feet.
Okay, here we go.
Go ahead and count me down.
All right, in 3, 2, 1, drop.
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So here it is.
As you can see, it doesn't look too too bad.
You can tell when I dropped it that it hit this corner first and there is some scratching up here on the metal and then some more down here on the bottom corner.
So looking at the glass, it really doesn't look like there's any scratches on there.
If I hold it just right in the sun, there's kind of a line right here that you're not gonna be able to see.
That could be a tiny little scratch.
It's not wiping away with my finger.
I don't think if I turn this, you're gonna be able to even tell that.
No, I'm definitely not seeing anything.
It seems like it did exactly with the iPhone 12 did which is take most of the beating on the frame and a lot of it is cosmetic.
And the paint just kind of scrapes off, especially if you pick a bright color like the red one.
Right, yeah, it's easy to see the metal coming out underneath from this one.
Well, let's try it on the back now and see what happens there.
All right, I'm ready.
In 3, 2, 1, drop.
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Look at that.
There's a couple little scuffs on the bottom here that looks like I can feel that it does make it into the glass as opposed to just the frame like we've seen before.
Up here at the top, we've got the usual big dent that we're used to seeing.
I can feel a little bit of a nick on the edge of the camera bezel here.
But the lenses themselves are in fine shape.
I definitely saw it land on the back this time and it doesn't look like it's cracked unless I'm not seeing something Chris.
Yeah, you're right.
Last time we had a bunch of big cracks across the bottom of the phone, but nothing this time.
Sounds like we need to keep going with this.
I think you're right, on to the next one.
Time now for six feet on the face.
I'll count you down, in 3, 2, 1, drop.
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All right, let's take a peek.
It's looking good on my end but then again I would be a lot more impressed had we not done this test already Chris, because now my expectations are pretty high for this class, but it's looking great.
That's true, the ceramic shield's holding strong again.
Down here at the bottom, I think that's from the first drop and then here's some more in this one around the side.
Definitely some more scaffing along this top edge.
This is the first time I think we I've ever encountered this, Chris.
But I think, I would recommend getting a case for the frame just because of the frame this time.
Right.
Normally it's the glass, this time it's the frame.
Let's turn the screen off and there you can see, just as pretty as a picture.
It sounded really bad and it doesn't look like it has any kind of damage, at least, in my very pixelated screen,
And even that thing I thought I saw after the first drop, I'm not even seeing that anymore.
So this phone's glass gets better with each fall.
It repairs itself over time.
They didn't advertise that, but it is self healing from what we've discovered.
Let's see if the back maintains the same kind of success.
I'm a little bit more nervous about the back than the front.
All right, count me down for drop number four on the back
Here we go, in three, two, one, drop.
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And here we go, look at that.
Back looks great, and this time it was the camera that died first.
Exactly, if you look up here you can see the little white spot on the lens itself.
And then there's a crack underneath it, if I can angle this, there we go.
Yeah, I see it.
You can see there just a little broken piece.
But beyond that, the overall phone looks just fine.
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Now I'm curious what happens here.
So if I open up the camera, it looks fine on the bottom lens which is the wide lens.
But then if I zoom out, and we're looking at the top lens, it still actually looks okay.
So I think what's happening is the crack is actually outside the field of view of the lens.
So I imagine that most pictures are gona look okay.
So I had that happen to my personal phone a while back and same thing, for most pictures it was fine.
But if the sun hit it at just the wrong angle, it would cause a really weird lens flare that would affect the photo.
So I'm assuming it'll be the same with this phone.
Yeah, I could definitely see that happening.
But with the way that the sun is here right now, I'm not able to recreate it.
But I would imagine that could be the case.
But the front and the back are still totally fine, which is kind of what we wanna see at this point.
So how about we take it to 9 feet?
I think that's a good idea.
All right, I'm up on the ladder, 9 feet face down, count me down.
Three, two, one, drop.
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Not a flat drop, let's see.
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Nothing major, let's try that again.
I'll do the exact same thing.
Here we go, three, two, one, that sounded good.
[LAUGH] Did that land flat?
I didn't catch that.
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It's really just hitting this top corner like it has been.
It must be a weight thing because, that's exactly what was happening with the iPhone 12 that we could not get it to land flat.
Exactly, but the glass hasn't cracked, let's try the back again.
Drop seven from nine feet.
Three, two, one.
[SOUND] Landed on the back, pretty good.
That do it.
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So, after all that, it's still not doing too bad.
We finally got some little crack down here on this bottom edge.
There's one that go this way, there's a longer one that runs up here on the side.
Up on the top, we got this big stack mark above the camera, the crack on the lens might've gotten just a little bit worse.
But after all that dropping on the front, it's still working just fine too, no major cracking or shattering of income.
And that phone, at least from where I'm sitting, Chris took a beating.
And the fact that the screen looks as good as it does is really impressive.
And even the back on the mini was really tough to break.
Let's just preface the fact that not a lot of people are gonna be dropping it from nine feet, [LAUGH] repeatedly.
And the fact that it survived that high of a drop is really impressive.
So the lens thing is kind of a bummer, but that [INAUDIBLE], and that was from six feet.
But I would say that the glass is actually stronger than the metal frame in this phone.
That is true, but I still think I can use this camera for a while.
I just may have some little artifacts and things like you said.
Now of course I have to say this is not a scientific test, but in our experience, this one has definitely done better than the last test we did with the iPhone 12.
I'm really impressed with the way the back held up.
And of course, that ceramic shield on the front is doing its job.
Yeah, Chris, that ceramic shield is no joke.
It definitely holds up to the claim and then some.
We have yet to break the ceramic shield on the iPhone 12.
So tune in next week, where we try to put a bullet through it.
All right, I don't know about all that, but there's definitely more iPhone testing to come.
So be sure to check back with us and see what we have coming up down the road.
But until then, make sure to put a case on this to at least protect the frame.
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