The recently unveiled OnePlus 10 Pro comes with some strong specs but not such a strong build, by the looks of it.
Zack Nelson, the guy behind the hit YouTube channel JerryRigEverything, this week subjected the 6.7-inch OnePlus 10 Pro to his usual battery of stress tests. Until it broke in half.
Nelson’s bend test isn’t particularly scientific as he simply places his thumbs on the back of the device and fingers on the display before pushing hard. If it stays intact, he then bends it the other way.
“If you ever hear noises during this portion of the video, it’s usually a bad thing,” the YouTuber says as he gets his thumbs and fingers in position ahead of the big push.
As he presses firmly, there’s a horrible crunching sound as the glass on the back of the device cracks in multiple places. He then flips the OnePlus 10 Pro and presses in the opposite direction. Unable to take anymore, it breaks in two.
“The OnePlus 10 Pro is definitely not alive anymore,” Nelson confirms, though looking at the sorry state of the handset, he really didn’t need to.
You can see the phone break in the video below …
Keen to find out why the phone broke in the way that it did, Nelson removes the back of the shattered handset to take a closer look.
What we learn is that he’d applied the greatest pressure at the top end of the battery, which aligns with the volume button to create a weak point. A metal exterior “much thinner than I expected” also looks to have affected the phone’s structural integrity.
We should point out that unless you’re particularly clumsy, the OnePlus 10 Pro is more than likely to stay intact if you choose to buy it. Nelson was simply curious to see how well the device would handle his rather extreme bend test.
Nelson’s own opinion? “If the OnePlus 10 Pro stays in the front pocket it’ll last just fine for its three-to-seven-year lifespan, but in a back pocket or any abnormal abuse could very well cause the 10 Pro to kick the bucket much sooner than it should.”
While phones rarely fail Nelson’s bend test in such a dramatic way, other mobile devices have suffered bend-related controversies over the years. Apple, for example, was put through the wringer in 2014 for the unexpected flexibility of the iPhone 6, while the 2018 iPad Pro also faced criticism after some users claimed it bent over time, though Apple said some units shipped like that and that it wasn’t a fault (actually Nelson busted that device, too).
Digital Trends has reached out to OnePlus for comment on the structural integrity of its latest handset and we will update this article when we hear back.
