The launch of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus ushered in a bevy of tests inevitably pitting it against the Galaxy Note 7, Samsung's flagship phone.
A new video by YouTube channel PhoneBuff sees the two smartphones head-to-head in a series of drop tests, showing how the two phones would fare in real world situations, where even expensive pieces of tech aren't immune to human clumsiness.
PhoneBuff previously tested the same phones on the speed department, and the iPhone 7 easily breezed through it as the Note 7 lagged far behind. Now, it's time to see the two phones again, this time being clobbered by gravity against a block of concrete.
If you can get past your consternation toward a skeleton crew destroying perfectly functional and aesthetically pristine phones, the results prove to be very interesting.
In the first round, the phones were dropped with the screen facing up. While the Note 7 is far from perfect given its predisposition to explode inexplicably, the phone did remain robust after the first drop, which is a nice surprise given its fragile glass-coated form factor. The phone still was fully functional, save for the rear glass, which suffered cracks on the bottom — a cosmetic eyesore. It's clear that the iPhone 7 Plus took the first round.
On the other hand, the iPhone 7 Plus, while also far from perfect with the recent hissing noises snafu, suffered noticeably less damage given its aluminum back housing, making it a notch more durable than the Note 7. A few scuffs here and there and that's it. No major damage whatsoever.
In the second round, the phones were dropped in a portrait position, the bottom part beelining for the concrete. The phones bounced after the impact, sustaining more damage. The iPhone 7 Plus garnered a few scuffs along its bottom, while the Note 7 suffered more cracks. The back of the iPhone 7 remained unchanged, but a few hairline cracks now run the length of Note 7's back. Needless to say, the iPhone 7 Plus won the second round.
The third round side-dropped the phones, and both of the phones' 7000 series aluminum bands only suffered a few scuffs. No considerable damage on the iPhone 7 Plus and the Note 7.
Round four, the face drop. The most lethal and damaging blow to a phone is landing on its screen, and in this round both phones had their screens shattered after the first drop. Despite this, both of the screens were still fully functional, making it a draw.
At this point, the iPhone 7 Plus is the clear winner, but PhoneBuff takes it even further with the bonus round. In a previous video, the Note 7 survived 50 more face drops. The iPhone 7 went through the same treatment, and after the ninth drop it had already fractured the housing that covered the front-facing camera, and at the tenth drop the iPhone 7 ceased to function altogether. If it's any consolation, the home button still worked.
Of course, the situations the phones went through in the test are extreme and forcefully abusive, and mostly do not mimic real world incidents. At least not repeatedly. If you're careful, your iPhone 7 Plus or Note 7 should be fine.
