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Samsung fires back at Galaxy S6 edge Bendgate allegations with official response

Published Apr 6th, 2015 9:40AM EDT
Galaxy S6 Edge Vs iPhone 6 Plus
Image: Zach Epstein, BGR

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Is Samsung’s hot new Galaxy S6 edge prone to bending and breaking just like Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus? Not so fast, says Samsung, which on Monday morning fired back at a recent report claiming to show scientific evidence that Samsung’s latest flagship phone is at even greater risk of breaking due to bending issues than Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus, which started the whole “Bendgate” craze last year.

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Gadget warranty company SquareTrade recently had a machine built specifically to test how likely smartphones are to bend and break. Interesting? Yes. Ridiculous? Probably. Nevertheless, the company posted its first bend test video last week, setting its sights on Samsung’s Galaxy S6 edge.

In its tests, SquareTrade found that the Galaxy S6 edge is just as bendable as the iPhone 6 Plus. But in a twist, the Galaxy S6 edge’s curved glass face will supposedly crack under the same amount of pressure that would cause an iPhone 6 Plus to only bend.

But Samsung is telling a different story.

“There are two things that need to be addressed with regard to the video,” Samsung said in regard to SquareTrade’s bend tests. “First, the video assumes a very specific condition – 110lbf (50kgf), which rarely occurs under normal circumstances. The normal force that generated when a person presses the back pocket is approximately 66lbf (30kgf). Our internal test results indicate that the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge are not bendable even under 79lbf (32kgf), which is equivalent to putting pressure to snap a bundle of five pencils at once.”

The post continued, “Secondly, even though both front and back sides are exposed under the same level of pressure in normal circumstances, this test does not show the strength of the back side. Some smartphones have different durability in each the front and back sides respectively. SquareTrade has only tested the front side, which may mislead consumers about the entire durability of smartphones.”

In the end, Samsung called for SquareTrade to perform its tests again taking Samsung’s complaints into account, and release its findings. Samsung also released its own video of Galaxy S6 edge stress tests, and that video is embedded below.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.