Samsung fighting off its own 'bendgate' controversy, says Galaxy S6 not bendable in normal daily use

Posted:
in iPhone edited April 2015
After Samsung poked fun at Apple's iPhone 6 for the so-called "bendgate" controversy, the South Korean electronics maker is now in the midst of its own public relations crisis, and has been forced to respond to a video showing its new Galaxy S6 Edge bending and breaking.




In a post to the company's official blog, Samsung said that all of its devices go through "high-quality validation tests" before they are shipped to consumers. The tests include dropping, bending, and breakage of the device.

"We are confident that all our smartphones are not bendable under daily usage," the company said in a statement.

Samsung also included its own video demonstrating a three-point bend test on both the newly released Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. The statement and video are in response to findings from SquareTrade publicized last week, in which the company found that the Galaxy S6 Edge is susceptible to bending -- and shattering -- under 110 pounds of pressure.





The iPhone 6 Plus was also found to bend under that same amount of pressure, but unlike the Galaxy S6 Edge, Apple' 5.5-inch phone did not shatter.

But Samsung feels the tests conducted by SquareTrade were not fair, as the company said 110 pounds of pressure "rarely occurs under normal circumstances." Samsung also said that the test conducted by SquareTrade "does not show the strength of the back side."

Samsung said it will deliver its statement to SquareTrade, and will ask them to conduct the stress test again to target both the front and back sides of the device.

The efforts to get its own "bendgate" controversy under control come after Samsung itself ran an ad campaign last year, in which it showed its Galaxy Note 4 handset surviving a series of bend tests. That commercial ended with the tag "The Galaxy NOte 4 is big, thin and light but strong."

Hit by the initial "bendgate" claims last fall, Apple allowed members the press to take a rare tour of an iPhone test facility to address the issue. There, journalists were shown the normally off-limits "torture test" building where Apple's devices are exposed to a battery of durability assessments.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 53
    boredumbboredumb Posts: 1,418member

    I'll bet they're just reprinting Apple's test results...

  • Reply 2 of 53
    Samsung should have kept quiet. Now they made things worse.

    - Insulting Squaretrade by claiming their testing is only to "satisfy sadistic pleasures"?
    - Claiming 66lbs is a normal force exerted when sitting on a phone? Does that stay the same for someone who weighs 100, 150 or 200 lbs? Is it the same when sitting on a soft couch (cushions) vs a hard wooden chair or bench?
    - Using pencils as a prop? Seriously, can't you come up with anything original?
    - Talking about the phones strength on both sides to deflect from the issue at hand? What next, telling people to put the phone in your pocket one way because the phone is stronger in that direction?
    - Using the same 3-point bend test? Samsung just pissed on all the fanboys/apologists who say a 3-point bend test is not a proper way to check a phone as it doesn't simulate "real world" use.

    This would have blown over in a few days. Now it's a news story and will show how pathetic Samsung is when faced with criticism.
  • Reply 3 of 53
    Forgot one more. Haters claim the iPhone 6 bends at 70lbs at the volume buttons. Samsung says 66lbs is what a phone is subjected to when sitting.

    Samsung just stated the iPhone 6 can't bend in your pocket.
  • Reply 4 of 53
    jm6032jm6032 Posts: 147member
    After Samsung poked fun at Apple's iPhone 6 for the so-called "bendgate" controversy, the South Korean electronics maker is now in the midst of its own public relations crisis, and has been forced to respond to a video showing its new Galaxy S6 Edge bending and breaking.

    So far, only 9 have been returned...
  • Reply 5 of 53
    Choke on it, Sammy. You made your bed, now sleep in it.
  • Reply 6 of 53

    Samsung says you're bending it wrong.

  • Reply 7 of 53
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member

    Have a chuckle while it lasts because this will be history within hours. Remember that only Apple is subject to ridicule and derision for this kind of stuff. There are already YouTube videos by Samsung fanboys “proving” that the S6 does not bend... at all. And do you really think that teenage twerps will descend on the Samsung booths in Best Buy to bend the S6 like they did the iPhone 6? Not a chance.

  • Reply 8 of 53
    Quote:

    Article:

     

    Samsung also said that the test conducted by SquareTrade "does not show the strength of the back side."


     

    They're going to need a strong back side.

  • Reply 9 of 53
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Dance, Samsung...DANCE!
  • Reply 10 of 53
    ecatsecats Posts: 272member
    When Samsung went as far as even saying "it won't bend" during the press launch of the S6... they were pretty much asking for this.
  • Reply 11 of 53
    jameskatt2jameskatt2 Posts: 720member
    Android fans are up in arms over what Samsung has wrought.

    Android fans are use to plasticky thick phones that don't need a case, have replaceable batteries, have a micro SD slot for storage expansion to 128 GB , are waterproof, that do not bend and break. They sneer at iPhone users who are sitting or standing by a wall waiting for their iPhones to recharge

    But now Samsung has done it. To copy Apple to try and regain its past glory, Samsung copied the iPhone so slavishly its phone EVEN BENDS. And to do Apple better, it BENDS AND BREAKS at a lower weight than the iPhone!

    Way to go Samsung!

    Some parallels with the iPhone:
    1. SIMILAR NAME: Samsung S6 vs iPhone 6
    2. NEEDS CASE since it easily bends and breaks
    3. NOT WATERPROOF
    4. NO REPLACEABLE BATTERY - so bring your power brick with you.
    5. NO MICRO-SD EXPANSION. If you want more storage, pay for the more expensive model
    6. FINGERPRINT READER
    7. BENDS at lower pressure than iPhone 6.
    8. For good measure, it has a glass back like the iPhone 4.

    To one-up the Apple, Samsung made the screen so that it SHATTERS when bent, sending sharp glass pieces into your pocket ready to jab you when you reach for your Samsung S6. So bring triple antibiotic cream and bandages with you in case you cut yourself on an Samsung S6.
  • Reply 12 of 53
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    boredumb wrote: »
    I'll bet they're just reprinting Apple's test results...

    Actually I bet it went something like this. Apple was using Samsung display which we know, apple did some testing early on and found issues, report them to Samsung display group, in order to reproduce apple's results they build their own systems to test display. Apple in the mean time address the issue and moved forward. Samsung display group share the systems with Samsung Cell phones and they did testing and probable told Samsung Cell phone about the issues Apple may have had, but Aapple moved on to another display company and Samsung thought they were going to make an issue and tried to make people thing that Apple was not testing and assumed apple would never let anyone in to see which backfired.

    Typical Samsung Marketing they never thought this was going to come back at them.

    This happen more times than not, I personally have seen where my company comes up with test systems and before you know it a supplier share those test systems with competitors. This is known as indirect transfer of know-how and it hard to provide this transfer happen.
  • Reply 13 of 53
    adrayvenadrayven Posts: 460member
    Your bending it wrong
  • Reply 14 of 53
    512ke512ke Posts: 782member
    I actually think bendgate benefits Samsung. It tells the world, the new Sammy6 is just like the iPhone.
  • Reply 15 of 53
    lkrupp wrote: »
    Have a chuckle while it lasts because this will be history within hours. Remember that only Apple is subject to ridicule and derision for this kind of stuff. There are already YouTube videos by Samsung fanboys “proving” that the S6 does not bend... at all. And do you really think that teenage twerps will descend on the Samsung booths in Best Buy to bend the S6 like they did the iPhone 6? Not a chance.

    Bendgate is a troll meme. It started as one, and its lasting value to the troll community is that it's a card they can play anytime they need to make a troll argument. Like antennagate.
  • Reply 16 of 53
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    jm6032 wrote: »
    So far, only 9 have been returned...

    Out of 9 sold/shipped.

    Eff you, Sammy. Why should we give a conniving company like you the benefit of doubt.
  • Reply 17 of 53

    Karma is a bitch Samsung. Maybe next time you won't pile on to ridiculous issues with the iPhone. Ah, who am I kidding, they'll take any opportunity to take some shots at a competitor.

     

    I have to agree with the other poster, when you make a ridiculous claim during your intro keynote that "it won't bend" (I guess they're phone escapes physics?), you're just asking for trouble.

  • Reply 18 of 53
    lightknightlightknight Posts: 2,312member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post





    Bendgate is a troll meme. It started as one, and its lasting value to the troll community is that it's a card they can play anytime they need to make a troll argument. Like antennagate.



    My 4 had the antenna problem, my 6S doesn't bend at all (and I tend to forget it in my back-pocket). Also, both phones have pretty much been round the planet and in pretty rough conditions. I do regret not putting a protection on the screen of the 4 before I gave it to my gf, the desert sands seriously damaged the glass... but I will just get her the next iPhone, I guess ;)

     

    My point is: these devices are amazingly strong, they cannot take extreme conditions because they're not TEMPEST/hardened, but for normal people they're just amazing. Claiming that antenna gate was a troll meme is just denying the real life experience of a lot of people. Don't forget Apple issued cases to every buyer of the 4, for good reason.

     

    Anyway, once I purchased a Mophie (love this company), life became plain amazing. I am very tempted to get one for the 6, but I'm quite attached to the thinness of the black leather ? case. Do you guys have an opinion on this?

  • Reply 19 of 53
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by EricTheHalfBee View Post



    - Claiming 66lbs is a normal force exerted when sitting on a phone? Does that stay the same for someone who weighs 100, 150 or 200 lbs? Is it the same when sitting on a soft couch (cushions) vs a hard wooden chair or bench?

     

     

    It's a three-point-test, which means that's 66 pounds of pressure applied to a single point with no support underneath to resist it. Not only would a person sitting on a phone not isolate the force to a single point (it would be applied over a much larger area), but you would always have resistance underneath, i.e., whatever you're sitting on.

  • Reply 20 of 53

    What goes around, comes around.  Now it's Samsung's turn to get bent.  It's going to hurt Samsung a lot more than it hurt Apple.  The iPhone 6/6+ are turning out to be the best-selling flagship smartphones of all time.

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