The entry-level Apple Watch may be a $350 device, but the cost of it isn't stopping some people from trying to permanently damage it.
The folks over at CNET have gotten hold of one of the first Apple Watch Sport units shipped on Friday. The device hasn't been in their hands for more than 24 hours and they have already decided that it is high time to put the Apple Watch to the test, that is, the kitchen torture test.
In a YouTube video posted by CNET, senior editor Sharon Profis subjects her brand new Apple Watch Sport with a white sport band to all sorts of damaging conditions.
At first, she starts with more realistic scenarios, placing the Apple Watch Sport under running water and dropping it in a pot of room temperature water and leaving it there for more than 10 minutes. As expected, the Apple Watch Sport, which is certified IPX7 water-resistant, comes out good as new and works normally after both water-resistance tests.
Next, she puts the device to a kitchen tool scratch test, starting with a cheese grater. She says something is coming off the screen but isn't sure if it is from the smartwatch or the grater, although the watch continues to work properly.
She then follows by tapping at the screen with a series of sharp kitchen gadgets to no avail. The Apple Watch Sport's screen will simply not scratch when rubbed against a grater or any of those metal kitchen tools because it is made from scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, the second hardest transparent material on Earth next to diamond.
Up next is the smother test, where Profis submerges the Apple Watch Sport in all sorts of liquids and semi-liquids, including red wine, maple syrup, soy sauce, ketchup, mustard, peanut butter, and Nutella. The result? The Apple Watch Sport sustains a little grease from the peanut butter, nothing that cannot be washed off with soap and water.
Since the watch appears to withstand every kind of hurdle thrown at it, Profis decides to put it to the harshest test possible, although it's fair to say these situations don't often happen in real life to people who know how to take care of a $350 watch.
The Apple Watch Sport goes through boiling water, a drop test, and Profis lightly stomping on the watch with the heel of her shoe. As usual, the watch remains functional with no scratches whatsoever, but it reboots itself after being taken out of the boiling water.
Finally, she decides to whack the Apple Watch with a seven-pound cast-iron skillet. Unsurprisingly, the screen breaks. Sapphire may be scratch-resistant but it is not shatter-resistant. A 25-gram object will definitely give out when smashed against another object 3,000 times heavier. We don't know if the watch still turns on after the screen breaks, but here is Profis' conclusion:
"We destroyed it," she says. "It took several torture tests, but we definitely destroyed it."
