Samsung Galaxy Note 7 glass screen more easily damaged than any iPhone

Posted:
in iPhone edited April 2017
Reviewers and YouTube examiners are discovering that the new Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Gorilla Glass 5 screen is susceptible to screen scratches. However, the Gorilla Glass manufacturer Corning disagrees with the test results, and has fired back.
Initial reviewers pointed to the ease that their Galaxy Note 7 screens made with the recently announced Gorilla Glass 5 were readily picking up scratches in a brief review period. Compounding the reviewers' claims, frequent product test video generator YouTube Channel JerryRigEverything found that a relatively very soft scratch-testing pick caused damage to the screen glass. The Mohs hardness scale ranges from 1 to 10, with talc having a rating of 1, and diamond coming in at 10. Sapphire crystal is rated at 9, with Gorilla Glass, and all glass, falling in between 5 and 7, depending on hundreds of variables introduced accidentally or intentionally during the manufacturing process. Beach sand has several components, but generally peaks at a Mohs hardness of 8.5, explaining why sand in a bag with a phone results in a badly scarred device. JerryRigEverything succeeded in damaging the screen with a testing pick of Mohs hardness 3. A tempered glass screen protector tested in the video in parallel with the Galaxy Note 7 was scratched with hardness 5 pick. The iPhone 5s screen with Gorilla Glass 3 was rated at a Mohs hardness of 6.8. The Mohs rating of the iPhone 6 with Apple's ion-hardened glass is not known, but does scratch more readily than the iPhone 5s does. The tester claims that most smartphones, including the iPhone, are scratched at around hardness 6. A screen scratching at hardness 3 is only slightly more scratch resistant than plastic.
Corning responded to the video in an interview with Android Authority. The glass manufacturer takes issue with the testing method, erroneous conclusions based on the damage, as well as discusses the characteristics that make Gorilla Glass suitable for portable electronics. "The hardness pick that was used in the video was a 3, that's considerably softer than the glass material," said Corning Vice President of Technology Jaymin Amin. "When you have a softer material like that, and depending on what kind of loads you have used, you tend to see material transfer on the test substrate." "Material transfer on the test substrate is not necessarily a scratch," added Amin. "But it can appear to the untrained eye as a pretty visible scratch." Corning blames a possible non-uniform pressure by the tester for why the theorized deposition of material increases as the hardness of the picks escalate. The company also claims that they have seen the same phenomenon in the lab under more controlled circumstances than the YouTube video. The tester uses what appears to be an optical cloth to remove any deposits on the glass from the testing. The video appears to show no removal of debris whatsoever, and has no apparent effect on the screen damage.
"It can be very, very difficult to remove metallic material transfer from glass," said Corning Business Technical Director Jon Pasansky. "It is very atypical to see in a field return when we look at scratches of glass that kind of characteristic, but purely visual, perceived damage that is actually a material on top of the surface." Mohs hardness evaluations are all about scratch resistance, and have very little to do about glass overall chip or shatter resistance. Corning's Gorilla Glass, and Apple's ion-strengthened "Ion-X" hardened glass formulations are more about preventing the propagation of cracks, similar to when a minor defect in a car's windshield grows rapidly after a shock from the car hitting a pothole. "When we consider all hardness tests, Gorilla Glass 5 is actually harder than Gorilla Glass 4," said Amin. "we believe that GG5 should be performing similarly to GG4." Regardless of the reason for the screen's appearance following the testing and explanations by Corning on what the marks on the screen are from, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7's screen appears to be more readily impacted by scratches, or difficult to remove materials embedded in the screen, than previous models with older Gorilla Glass variants. Apple was said to abandon wide use of the harder sapphire for iPhone and iPad screens because of the collapsed deal with sapphire glass fabricator GT Advanced. The deal which never delivered sapphire glass in any giant quantity needed for screen use lead to the bankruptcy and sale of the foundry's assets. Sapphire glass is used by Apple in Touch ID sensors, iPhone camera lenses, and the non-Sport versions of the Apple Watch. Corning has claimed in the past that despite sapphire's greater Mohs hardness, screens made from the material would be more susceptible to breaking and less optically clear than its own Gorilla Glass. AppleInsider has reached out to Corning for further comment on the matter.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 70
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Hooray!
    latifbp
  • Reply 2 of 70
    netroxnetrox Posts: 1,415member
    sog35 said:
    Samsung. Maker of crap products.

    All SIZZLE and no STEAK.

    IMO, only uneducated, poor, or ignorant people buy the flagship Samsung phones.
    It has nothing to do with Samsung. It's the Corning that makes the glass which Apple also uses for its screens.
    napoleon_phoneapartsingularityDeelrongregg thurmanjay-tmacxpressjustadcomicstopper24hourscnocbuispacerays
  • Reply 3 of 70
    mazda 3smazda 3s Posts: 1,613member
    I've come to the realization that I can't keep my devices perfectly free from damage since I prefer to keep my iPhone 6s "naked" as I loathe cases. Phone cases are like those ugly-ass black leather/vinyl "bras" that people used to put on the front of their cars back in the 80s and 90s IMHO, but that's another story...

    I've had my iPhone 6s for roughly a year with minimal scratches on the display (mainly just light scratches from possibly rubbing up against something), but nothing that I can feel with my fingers. And definitely nothing that I can notice with the screen on.

    I'm just getting to the point where I say "sh*t happens" and move on. As long as you aren't out purposefully trying to scratch your smartphone, you should be fine no matter if you have an iPhone, a Galaxy, or god forbid a Lumia   :D
    edited August 2016 rhinotuffjony0Deelrongregg thurmanjahbladejustadcomicsrevenantbrian greenlolliverxTradaTrade
  • Reply 4 of 70
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    netrox said:
    sog35 said:
    Samsung. Maker of crap products.

    All SIZZLE and no STEAK.

    IMO, only uneducated, poor, or ignorant people buy the flagship Samsung phones.
    It has nothing to do with Samsung. It's the Corning that makes the glass which Apple also uses for its screens.
    "The iPhone 5s screen with Gorilla Glass 4 was rated at a Mohs hardness of 6.8. The Mohs rating of the iPhone 6 with Apple's ion-hardened glass is not known, but does scratch more readily than the iPhone 5s does."

    That would imply that hardness alone is not what Gorilla Glass 5 or "Apples ion-hardened" iPhone glass is intended for, as both may (or may not) be more susceptible to scratching specifically than the glass screens in older models. 
    gregg thurman
  • Reply 5 of 70
    icoco3icoco3 Posts: 1,474member
    sog35 said:
    netrox said:
    It has nothing to do with Samsung. It's the Corning that makes the glass which Apple also uses for its screens.
    how do you know?  Maybe Samsung's quality control isn't as good as Apple.  Maybe Samsung agreed to buy Cornings 'sloppy seconds' for a discount rate.

    Don't think for a second that Samsung isn't sketcy enough to do this type of stuff.  
    They know their clients are idiots and uneducated so they can sell them low quality junk and it won't matter.
    Corning would never allow that...their reputation would be on the line...but seems it is now :)
    big
  • Reply 6 of 70
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    d00med
    big
  • Reply 7 of 70
    samsung sucks in so many ways
    baconstangalbegarcbiglatifbpcalimagman1979
  • Reply 8 of 70
    singularitysingularity Posts: 1,328member
    sog35 said:
    Samsung. Maker of crap products.

    All SIZZLE and no STEAK.

    IMO, only uneducated, poor, or ignorant people buy the flagship Samsung phones.
    You must have one on order then?
    baconstangmacxpressradarthekatroundaboutnowjustadcomicscroprmacguiKilroy238waverboy[Deleted User]
  • Reply 9 of 70
    sog35 said:
    Samsung. Maker of crap products.

    All SIZZLE and no STEAK.

    IMO, only uneducated, poor, or ignorant people buy the flagship Samsung phones.
    You must have one on order then?
    Yeah, he placed an order just after you did. 
    latifbpcalimagman1979diplicationbestkeptsecret[Deleted User]
  • Reply 10 of 70
    So wait a second: the Galaxy 7 Edge didn't scratch with level 5, and Note 7 "scratches" with level 3. The justification of Gorilla Glass is that "Material transfer on the test substrate is not necessarily a scratch"? So what's the definition of a scratch to them? Because to me, it's something on the glass that it's not coming out, regardless if it's material transfer or damaged surface... Ridiculous...
    topper24hourslostkiwimagman1979badmonk
  • Reply 11 of 70
    netrox said:
    It has nothing to do with Samsung. It's the Corning that makes the glass which Apple also uses for its screens.
    Yeah, it's not Samsung's responsibility to review the structural integrity of the materials it uses in its products, and assemble said products in a way that makes for a satisfactory user experience!
    baconstangnolamacguylostkiwicalilolliver[Deleted User]
  • Reply 12 of 70
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    I don't think it's been since GG3 that they've touted better scratch resistance—then it was "up to 3x more scratch-resistant than [GG2]"—so I'm not surprised that it's not higher, but I am surprised that it's not only less, but a lot less considering one of its major use cases.


  • Reply 13 of 70
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    netrox said:
    sog35 said:
    Samsung. Maker of crap products.

    All SIZZLE and no STEAK.

    IMO, only uneducated, poor, or ignorant people buy the flagship Samsung phones.
    It has nothing to do with Samsung. It's the Corning that makes the glass which Apple also uses for its screens.
    By saying "it has nothing to do with Samsung," you're saying that Samsung had no option to purchase a more scratch resistant version of GG, like GG4? I certainly can't prove that Corning has stopped making all buy GG5, without doing some of research of the company's current product option , so I'm open to that defense, but I have to say that it seems like a specious argument to me.
    edited August 2016 Deelronbaconstangpscooter63nolamacguylatifbpcali
  • Reply 14 of 70
    bigbig Posts: 36member
    I can't watch the video right now (working) but it occurs to me, "material transfer" or otherwise, something's happening. And most likely the tester doesn't have access to high end super precise test equipment. So, why not just do a side-by-side test of an assortment of phones and see what happens? This so-called "material transfer" supposedly can look like a scratch - let's see if it happens across the board or just to the Samsung. 

    (Again, I can't see the vid right now, so if this was already done, please ignore.)
    latifbp
  • Reply 15 of 70
    ppietrappietra Posts: 288member
    netrox said:
    sog35 said:
    Samsung. Maker of crap products.

    All SIZZLE and no STEAK.

    IMO, only uneducated, poor, or ignorant people buy the flagship Samsung phones.
    It has nothing to do with Samsung. It's the Corning that makes the glass which Apple also uses for its screens.
    You are making a bad assumption. It is Corning that makes the Gorilla glass but it is Samsung that makes the finished glass screen after buying glass from Corning. That opens the possibility that Samsung applied some kind of treatment to the surface of the glass that made it more scratch prone
    latifbpcalilolliver
  • Reply 16 of 70
    latifbplatifbp Posts: 544member
    sog35 said:
    Samsung. Maker of crap products.

    All SIZZLE and no STEAK.

    IMO, only uneducated, poor, or ignorant people buy the flagship Samsung phones.
    You don't even need to buy them. Sign up on TMo and Samsung S7's are being given out for free. It's the cheapskates who want to save a dollar who are taking these deals. 
    bigcali
  • Reply 17 of 70
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Bottom line, if this where about an iPhone all hell would be breaking loose. "Scratchgate" would be plastered all over the Internet. Pundits would be prognosticating how long before Apple went belly up. Consumer Reports would be warning the public. But since it's Samsung nobody will give a rat's ass. It probably won't even make it to c|net, let alone the Verge. Yawn...
    gregg thurmanai46baconstangDeelronjustadcomicsnolamacguylostkiwilatifbpcalispacerays
  • Reply 18 of 70
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    netrox said:
    sog35 said:
    Samsung. Maker of crap products.

    All SIZZLE and no STEAK.

    IMO, only uneducated, poor, or ignorant people buy the flagship Samsung phones.
    It has nothing to do with Samsung. It's the Corning that makes the glass which Apple also uses for its screens.
    Samsung bought it and put them in their god damn phone, THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE.
    baconstangnolamacguycalilolliverDeelron
  • Reply 19 of 70
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    sog35 said:
    Samsung. Maker of crap products.

    All SIZZLE and no STEAK.

    IMO, only uneducated, poor, or ignorant people buy the flagship Samsung phones.
    That's funny. Most of us rich, smart people think only brand loyalist low IQ people buy iPhones. Funny how that works. Personally, when I see someone with a Samsung I know they have a brain. When I see someone with an iPhone I know they likely are not tech savvy in any way and probably are hashtag douches and pitbull owners. Trust me.. Samsungs are $800-$900, it's not poor people buying them. Keep telling yourself that while you line up for your next iDouche that's 99.999% like the original iDouche from 10 years ago.
    Get the fuck out of here world class moron. Considering the demos of Iphone buyers your fucked up assertion is laughable.
    Got a masters in computer engineering and been involved in engineering since the 1980s; so, spare me your shit.
    bigbaconstangDeelronlatifbpericthehalfbeecalikevin keelolliver
  • Reply 20 of 70
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    sog35 said:
    Samsung. Maker of crap products.

    All SIZZLE and no STEAK.

    IMO, only uneducated, poor, or ignorant people buy the flagship Samsung phones.
    You mean like @AppleButtHurt201, the new troll we picked up today?
    bigSolibaconstangcalilolliver
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