The iPhone 7 is here, folks, at least if you were smart enough to preorder one last week. Buyers all over the world are starting to receive their iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus units, and some of them have already begun torturing the shiny new devices. We have seen iFixit’s revealing teardown of the iPhone 7 Plus, and now it’s time to take a look at the build quality of the iPhone 7.
DON’T MISS: 10 best iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus cases we’ve found so far
YouTube channel JerryRigEverything, whose job is to make smartphones suffer, bought a matte black iPhone 7. The object here is to put the device to a variety of stress tests, including scratching, burn tests and bending.
Jerry discovered that the iPhone 7 has a regular display that scratches about as easily as any other phone unless that phone is a Galaxy Note 7 — he performed the same test on the Samsung phablet, only to discover that Gorilla Glass 5 scratches much easier than expected.
The rear case of the phone might be made of metal, but it won’t survive any kind of serious scratching. Keys are okay, but blades and any sharp objects will leave a mark. Jerry’s tests also reveal that the volume, standby and mute buttons are made of metal, and the new home button and camera glass are not made from sapphire.
And if you were to heat up the LCD screen, you should know it’ll probably survive the experience just fine, as long as exposure to fire isn’t prolonged.
The iPhone 7 doesn’t bend like the iPhone 6 did, and we’re hardly surprised to hear that. However, during bending stress tests, the adhesive that surrounds the screen might break, which means the phone could sustain water damage in the future. So make sure you don’t sit on your iPhone, even if you know it can’t be bent.
Finally, Jerry makes an interesting point about the “universal” Lightning port that’s now supposed to work as a charging port and as a new headphone jack. Because of this dual function, the life of the Lightning port may suffer the consequences of accelerated wear and tear. Let’s just hope that doesn’t end up being a problem for the new iPhones.
Check out the full video below.
