Survival of the fittest: Galaxy S5 vs. Galaxy S4 drop/crash test

One of the most important features of modern smartphones is, without any doubts, their ability to survive during drops, falls and other incidents. The new Samsung Galaxy S5 is clearly better than the Samsung Galaxy S4 from 2013 when it comes to performance and design. But which one is more rugged? The specialists from TechSmartt decided to find out.

During the crash test, the experimenters dropped both smartphones from pocket height (around 70cm), which is a simulation of a real-world situation when a phone falls out of a pocket. Both smartphones (most importantly, their displays) survived the test without any problems, but both got slight visual damages.

Both handsets also survived drops from head height (a simulation of a situation when the phone is dropped while making a call), but with much more significant damages. While screens of both the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy S4 remined undamaged, the cracks their cases received were much more noticeable.

When phones were dropped from above the head height with their displays facing downwards, no screen was cracked. However, the Galaxy S4’s backside panel was substantially damaged. [yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=py6zXJoS-cE']

When dropped off from about 10-foot height, the protective glass of the Galaxy S4 was cracked since it landed on the corner; nonetheless, the screen itself remained undamaged and could display images. The Galaxy S5 landed in a better “position”, so its display covered with Corning Gorilla Glass was not damaged at all.

What was surprising is that after the Galaxy S5 survived several drop tests, it remained undamaged even after it was run over by a heavy car. The only substantial damage was a cracked glass on the camera.

KitGuru Says: Keeping in mind that the Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone is made mostly of plastic, its ability to withstand rather catastrophic occurrences cannot be called otherwise, but fantastic. Still, keep in mind that there is a big portion of luck in the drop tests. Most of today’s smartphones should survive when they fall “face down”, but when they land on the corners, they deform for a while and crack the protective glasses.

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