If smartphones were people, they would probably shake with fear at the mention of JerryRigEverything since he has continuously tortured every new device that arrives in the market, all for the sake of pushing them to their limits. The newest “victim” of this durability test is the Nexus 5x (released last year) manufactured by LG and even though this is a plastic cased device, it seems that it survived the scratch, burn, and bend test that Jerry usually applies to his new toys.
Since it is made from plastic, the expectations for the Nexus 5x in terms of durability wasn’t that high. But with the Mohs Scale pics that are used to see how far the screen can survive the scratches, the first scratch only appeared with pic 6 and it only became more prominent with pic 7. This means it is as strong and scratch resistant as the previous phones tested, only they were supposedly made from stronger material and were more premium in price. But when it comes to the back, as expected, the plastic is easily scratched, even as the logo is integrated into the casing.
With the burn test, it took 8 seconds in front of an open flame for the screen to turn white and not work anymore. But after it was removed from the flame, it went back to normal and was still fully functional. So unless you are in an environment where you normally have an open flame, then this aspect of the LG 5x is actually negligible.
For the bend test, you would expect a plastic encased device to break easily. But apparently, it survives as it bends and flexes but suffers very little permanent damage. So if you happen to sit on your phone that you forgot you put in your back pocket, it may actually survive.
This is why I laugh whenever anyone associates an all metal or metal and glass smartphone as being more “premium” because it looks or feels good in the hand. Last I checked something being premium meant it was well made and of high quality. Compared to the nexus 6p, which is considered by most to be more premium than the 5x because of its all metal build or higher pixel count screen, etc., didn’t survive this torture test so well (look up Nexus 6p bend test on YouTube). Don’t get me wrong, the Nexus 6p is a nice device and other than it’s unwieldy size feels nice in the hand and is in many respects an excellent device, but when I spend $450+ on a device I expect it not to bend in my pocket. I will enjoy my quality made 5x that I spent $199 on Fi, thank you.