Nexus 6P Bend Test Redux, Still Meets Gruesome End

We will probably never see the end of smartphone bend tests on YouTube as long as people find creative, entertaining, and sometimes brutal ways of conducting those test, both to prove how fragile a device is or to refute that claim. Recently, however, the methods of YouTuber JerryRigEverything painted a question mark on the whole fad. Now trying to defend his name, the user posted another Nexus 6P bend test video, this time from straight out the box. Unfortunately, the Huawei-made smartphone still met the same end.

The purpose of these bend tests are to determine how much bending pressure a smartphone can take before it breaks. Most often than not, the pressure is applied with bear hands and is claimed to at least match the pressure your hips or posterior would apply if the smartphone were in your pocket. JerryRigEverything applied the same principle in his bend test but did something beforehand that cast doubt on his credibility. He actually damaged or at least weakened the Nexus 6P's structural integrity by practically destroying the glass and applying an inordinate amount of heat. Unsurprisingly, the phone broke easily.

Responding to criticisms, Jerry performed a second test, this time on a second Nexus 6P straight out of the box. No other procedure was applied and yet the Nexus 6P still breaks just as easily. He attributes this to three design flaws in the Nexus 6P:

• The aluminum midframe that is supposed to provide strength to the device isn't screwed to the back frame and is just free-floating, making it it practically useless. The midframe is held together with the front and back frames simply by Gorilla Glass and plastic dovetail joints, which isn't exactly the sturdiest combination;

• The rear aluminum back has very thin side walls. It isn't normally an issue but because the aluminum midframe isn't well anchored to the rear frame, again this makes them useless;

• There is a gap between the battery in the bottom half of the phone and the motherboard in the upper half. This practically empty space is located by the power button, which makes it the weakest point of the whole structure and is where the phone breaks in half.

That said, there are other bend tests where the Nexus 6P does manage to survive, though Jerry claims that these do not actually apply pressure in the right spots or avoid the weak points of device. We're sure there will be a lot more Nexus 6P's that will be sacrificed for the sake of proving or contesting his theories.

Nonetheless, he does admit that, though a fatal flaw, it doesn't negate the positive points about the Nexus 6P. He just cautions to take care of the smartphone as much as you would a baby.