iPhone 4 Drop Test with Bumper Case

[buc]

My iphone fell out of my pocket twice over the weekend (played in a basketball tourney and my shorts had pockets where it was real easy for the phone to slide right out). Both times i was getting into my car. The first time the phone bounced off the bottom of the doorway and then landed on a concrete driveway. Second time it again bounced off the bottom of the doorway and bounced inside the car (so didn't hit any concrete). Ended up with a small scuff mark on the black piece of the phone right between the metal outer antenna and the glass...can't really see it unless you know to look for it. Not a mark on the glass anywhere ( i do have an invisible shield on front/back).

After reading the stories on here i fully expected to see shattered glass. So much for that. I guess based on my single "test" the iphone is the most indestructible phone ever created.

(i will be getting a bumper because i think it will help absorb some shock as long as it doesn't happen to land perfectly flat, and any shock absorption will help protect the phone in case of drops, although you could always get unlucky and drop it in such a way that the glass will break i suppose)

 

[Trinity]

This guy just dropped his IQ. What a load of cr*p!. If you wanna crashtest the phone do it right! and in a controlled environment. This random ***** males no sense. Some guy dies falling out of bed.. another survives a fall from 10th. floor. Get the picture?

excuses, just check original 2007 iPhone crash tests on youtube and you'll see iPhone 4 is a bit too delicate...

 

[spydr]

Presumably, the details of a specific drop (angle of impact, height of fall, speed, and surface it falls onto) are a lot more relevant than how many times the phone has been dropped. As such, comparing a single test like this to a single test of an iPhone being dropped until breaking without a case is nearly meaningless.

Fully agreed.

Too many variables and a sample size of ONE. Good only for advertising their business — completely useless in connoting the relative vulnerability of the phone, or the protection conferred by the bumper or how the iPhone compares to other similar phones in the market.

I have a bumper and I feel it will confer a degree of protection from fall, it certainly lifts the glass by a millimeter while lying on hard surface, protecting it from scratches and it perhaps alleviates the 'lethal' effect of 'death grip'.

(joking about the last one, I have only lost bars not total connectivity with my usual grips)

 

[cecoleman]

First of all you people appal me. You come to this site because you are obviously fans of the products that Apple makes. Now for all the good Apple has done in your life and all the great products you have used, I really can't believe how you still come here to be their harshest critic. Its like winning the damn powerball lotto and complaining about the taxes.

In light of the drops from that video, it really demonstrates nothing. For one if you drop your phone it's highly unlikely you are going to do so in a suspended state floating to a heap of concrete. If you do a real world accidental drop the phone is going to be spinning or twirreling to the ground in effect lighting the impact the glass would take as it hits the ground. Second of all having a screen shield on the front or back would also probably reduce the likelihood of a break. So these idiots who drop the phone glass down in a suspended state prove nothing more than how dumb they are. How many times do you think they shot that video to produce those results?

 

[ghood]

I dropped my phone 6 inches on to the sidewalk and it landed on the top corner of the phone. It took 24 hours for the back side glass to crack but it did happen. I was in the apple store buying headphones and thought I'd just show someone the issue. They replaced my phone on the spot... I couldn't believe it.

 

[Misjah]

excuses, just check original 2007 iPhone crash tests on youtube and you'll see iPhone 4 is a bit too delicate...

Well IT IS a delicate piece of equipment isn't it? So be careful... or even better; buy one of the plastic-fantastic HTCs out there.

 

[Anuba]

I guess im in the minority that never drops their precious?

I'm in a slightly different category: I convince myself and others that I never drop anything, but when I think about it my iPhone 3G has fallen to the floor about half a dozen times. It has yet to say hello to concrete or stone, though. Only carpets and hardwood so far.

A couple of times when I've fallen asleep with the phone next to me and knocked it to the floor while sleeping. Another time I accidentally nudged it on my desk so that it fell to the floor. The phone isn't in a case and has survived unscathed, probably due to hitting the floor back first (=curved plastic), but I have a hunch that the 4G might not have done so well since there's glass on both sides.

The so-called bumper appears to do a great job of protecting the stainless steel, the one part of the phone that won't break, but does nothing for the glass...

 

[wovel]

Why don't we see the other stories of naked iPhones being thrown at walls, falling off of truck hoods onto cement, being dragged on concrete, and dropped from a few feet repeatedly without a scratch? These were stories reported by major news outlets, but the only ones regurgitated all over the net are these ridiculous ifixyouri stunts.

Because ifixyouri's iphone protection plan will be for sale soon and we need to help him promote it. It is our sacred duty.

 

[lkrupp]

don't hold it that way, don't touch it with your ear, don't drop it...
iPhone 4 needs a new accessory:

introducing iTripod

Lame attempts at sarcasm only make the poster look more obssessed and stupid. Now that a cottage industry of lame sarcasm against the iPhone 4 has arisen it just becomes a matter of how to imply the same thing over and over and over again. Apparently the posters think their sarcasm will actually accomplish something, like maybe put Apple out of business (their most fervent wet dream). Just how OCD is that?

 

[hardchemist]

Not quite...

AFAIK, Metal elements only become transparent under high pressure. (Or if you see in XRays with the power in the order of Gigawatts)

http://www.physorg.com/news156104532.html

There is Indium Tin Oxide, but its not extremely suitable for such a thing.

In fact quite the opposite. According to the article that you cited, sodium is an exception to the rule by becoming clear at high pressures.

Also you don't need gigawatts of x-ray energy to see through a metal either. With a light metal like aluminum all you need is 10's of watts to "see" through a quarter inch.

And indium tin oxide is just a glass coating, with properties only useful and relevant only when applied extremely thin. Otherwise it's not optically transparent.

 

[hsotnicam8002]

That test was unfair. He should at least have given the iphone time to get its breath back before dropping it again! Imagine hitting you in the stomach three times without a decent groaning time in-between.

 

[Ries]

Well the bumper actually offers 100% protection to the area it covers - the softer aluminium band. How the hell is it supposed to protect what it doesn't even cover?

Actually no part of the phone will touch the ground when dropped on a flat surface in a bumper....

 

[davisjw]

Articles like this annoy me. They show an obvious problem and don't offer a fix.

We all know it breaks eventually. So what's the best case to protect it?

Anyone?

 

[phpmaven]

man, i'm glad i finally saw someone post this.

"dont drop it'... ya think? thats like saying "dont crash your car". no one goes out to do these things on purpose, unfortunately they still happen every day. no one plans on dropping their phone, so there is no point instructing them not to do it unless you just want to waste your time stating the obvious.

You know, there are a lot of people who don't take care of their possessions very well. I have a number of friends whose iPhones are all banged up and scratched while mine is pristine. It's because I care about my stuff and treat it with respect. Especially the beautiful Apple items I have like my iPad and MacBook Pro and iPhone. To me they are fine works of industrial art that need to treated carefully. If you have that kind of mentality, or at least try to be careful, you will much less likely to drop your phone, especially from 3 feet onto concrete.

 

[Ries]

Lame attempts at sarcasm only make the poster look more obssessed and stupid. Now that a cottage industry of lame sarcasm against the iPhone 4 has arisen it just becomes a matter of how to imply the same thing over and over and over again. Apparently the posters think their sarcasm will actually accomplish something, like maybe put Apple out of business (their most fervent wet dream). Just how OCD is that?

And you think your post will, how ironic

 

[deus_ex_machina]

One day we might be able to have titanium with 99% transparency. Before that, you just can't be that stupid.

Don't you mean transparent aluminum?

 

[Ries]

You know, there are a lot of people who don't take care of their possessions very well. I have a number of friends whose iPhones are all banged up and scratched while mine is pristine. It's because I care about my stuff and treat it with respect. Especially the beautiful Apple items I have like my iPad and MacBook Pro and iPhone. To me they are fine works of industrial art that need to treated carefully. If you have that kind of mentality, or at least try to be careful, you will much less likely to drop your phone, especially from 3 feet onto concrete.

Its a device, it's meant to be used

 

[txpotato]

Put your iphone4 in a safe and carry it with you.
Sent from my "defective" Iphone4---Steve Jobs

 

[txpotato]

It is not something "FINE .....ART" or something related to "Art". Even SJ says it is just a phone.

You know, there are a lot of people who don't take care of their possessions very well. I have a number of friends whose iPhones are all banged up and scratched while mine is pristine. It's because I care about my stuff and treat it with respect. Especially the beautiful Apple items I have like my iPad and MacBook Pro and iPhone. To me they are fine works of industrial art that need to treated carefully. If you have that kind of mentality, or at least try to be careful, you will much less likely to drop your phone, especially from 3 feet onto concrete.

 

[Blorzoga]

There are not many cases that will prevent an iPhone from breaking when dropped from a waist height to concrete. The bumper, like many other cases improves the grip of the phone and protects it from scratches when it is laid down on flat surfaces. There are other more bulky cases that will protect it from falls but they are not very sleek. So it depends on the type of protection you want. If you work in construction or tend to drop your phone frequently then don't buy a bumper and expect it to save your phone.

 

[Blorzoga]

It is not something "FINE .....ART" or something related to "Art". Even SJ says it is just a phone.

Actually that was the fake SJ that said it was just a phone.

 

[EmbraceNext]

I have owned every iphone since the day they have come out. I have NEVER dropped it. It isn't hard to make sure you don't drop a $300 piece of equipment.

 

[Trinity]

Lame attempts at sarcasm only make the poster look more obssessed and stupid. Now that a cottage industry of lame sarcasm against the iPhone 4 has arisen it just becomes a matter of how to imply the same thing over and over and over again. Apparently the posters think their sarcasm will actually accomplish something, like maybe put Apple out of business (their most fervent wet dream). Just how OCD is that?

you're very kind but I'm not sure if a defender of iPhone 4 despite its obvious faults can describe me as obssessive or stupid...

 

[Bubba Satori]

You're dropping it wrong. Stay tuned for some magical koolaid.

 

[sdspa]

agent 18

I have preordered the agent 18 case. It has protected by Iphone 3GS so many times.