Samsung Galaxy phones go throught the bend test
Samsung is Apple's chief rival for smartphone supremacy and the Korean technology giant has been hit with its own form of last year's iPhone Bendgate controversy.
A video recorded by an American company shows Samsung's flagship Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone bending (and then cracking) under the same pressure that was applied to the iPhone 6 Plus last September.
"SquareTrade Labs' tests reveal that while the iPhone 6 Plus bends, the Galaxy S6 Edge cracks under pressure," said Jessica Hoffman, vice president of global communications for SquareTrade, the company behind the video.
SquareTrade found the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge would deform at 110 pounds of pressure and break completely at 149 pounds.
And, while the iPhone 6 Plus deformed at the same 110 pounds, it took until 179 pounds for it to stop working completely.
SquareTrade's bending test pushed the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge past breaking point - prompting Samsung to release a video of its own
SquareTrade's video unsurprisingly spread around the internet and Samsung quickly responded with a statement and a video of its own.
"The video assumes a very specific condition – 110 pounds of force (50 kilograms of force), which rarely occurs under normal circumstances," Samsung said in a statement.
"The normal force that generated when a person presses the back pocket is approximately 66 pounds of force (30 kilograms of force)," said the Korean smartphone manufacturer.
"Our internal test results indicate that the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge are not bendable even under 79 pounds of force (32 kilograms of force), which is equivalent to putting pressure to snap a bundle of five pencils at once.
"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."
SquareTrade's initial test was conducted by the company's "Bendbot" machine which aims to simulate the effects of pressure applied to a smartphone resting in the average person's back pocket.
Along with the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, SquareTrade also tested out the HTC One M9 which both deformed and broke completely at 120 pounds of pressure.
While the company may argue the validity of the tests, they do serve to remind us all of one important point. Remember to take the £760 smartphone out of your back pocket before you sit on it.
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