Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

Google Pixel 4a gets box-cutter treatment in extreme durability test

Trevor Mogg
By
Google Pixel 4a Durability Test! – Simply Solid?

Google’s Pixel 4a smartphone launched in August 2020, and YouTuber Zack Nelson, well known for his methodical yet extreme smartphone durability tests at JerryRigEverything, recently got around to taking his trusty box cutter to the device (above).

Recommended Videos

Built with a cheap plastic casing, Nelson’s business-like assault on the $350 handset was always going to end badly for the Pixel 4a, and sure enough, the box cutter effortlessly carves large chunks off the side of the phone’s body.

Related

“Of course, there’s nothing wrong with plastic; honestly I kind of like it,” Nelson ruminates as he continues to slice up the handset At the same time, he notes how the plastic housing means the Pixel 4a “will literally never have a shattered glass back to replace, unlike the $400 iPhone SE whose broken glass back costs $270 to fix.”

The box cutter is also let loose on the front screen and back of the Pixel 4a, scraping up and down while making the kind of noises that’ll leave more sensitive souls cringing. The fingerprint sensor on the back of the device is also scratched to bits by the blade, although — and here’s the impressive part — the sensor continues to work “even with substantial damage.”

Despite using an older version of Gorilla Glass for the Pixel 4a’s display, an enthusiastically administered scratch test leads Nelson to conclude that “keys, coins, and razor blades won’t have any effect” on the phone’s display.

Granted, it’s highly unlikely that the Pixel 4a — or any smartphone, for that matter — will ever have to face the sharp end of a box cutter during its lifetime, but Nelson nevertheless likes to see just how well a phone has been built by subjecting it to some pretty brutal scratching, cutting, and even burning (with a naked flame).

Having completed his battery of extreme tests, and with the Pixel 4a still able to function despite its pummeling, Nelson concludes that Google’s handset “might be the most durable budget phone 0f 2020,” adding, “Overall, I’m impressed with the Pixel 4a.”

In Digital Trends’ review of the Pixel 4a, the camera really stood out as something special. The software and battery life also impressed, though overall we found the device to be “desperately ordinary.”

Interested in seeing even more extreme durability tests? Then check out these brutal efforts meted out to different iPhones over the years.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Trevor Mogg
Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
The Google Pixel Fold 2 just leaked. Here’s everything that’s new
Schematics of Google Pixel 2 according to leaks.

Google’s next foldable phone is going to be a screamer, and not solely for good reasons, if the latest leaks are to be believed. SmartPrix (via OnLeaks) has shared alleged renders depicting the Google Pixel Fold 2, and it looks like a mixed bag of regressive design and positive developments.
The biggest change compared to the first-gen Google Pixel Fold is a camera bump that ditches the stretched bar look on the current-gen Pixel smartphones. Instead, we now have a rectangular design with two rows of pill-shaped black outlines, hosting three camera lenses and a bunch of other sensors.
It’s a stark departure from the mainstream Pixel camera bar, and it revives a look that was last seen on the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4 series phones. Looks aside, the side placement also means the phone will keep wobbling if you place it on a flat surface. I’m not exactly a fan of this approach, to be honest.

Another notable change is the side profile. The curved edges of the Pixel Fold have been flattened, a look that will also appear on the Google Pixel 9 series phones, according to leaked renders.
But if you look closely and ignore the ugly camera hump shape, the Pixel Fold 2 looks identical to the OnePlus Open in its leathery black trim. The side rails, those curved bezels, and the front camera placement are all identical.
Even the ridge seems to have been lifted straight from the OnePlus Open, down to its polished metal aesthetics. It’s not a bad thing, as the OnePlus Open is one of the best-built phones I’ve ever used, and the form factor is an absolute joy to handle.
The most progressive change happens once the phone is opened. The thick bezels are gone, and what we see on the Pixel Fold 2 renders are uniformly thin bezels on all sides, a trend that we first noticed on the foldable phones offered by Oppo.

Read more
I really hope the Google Pixel Fold 2 doesn’t look like this
A leaked hands-on photo of the Google Pixel Fold 2, showing a close-up of its camera module on the back.

This has been a busy week in terms of Google Pixel Fold 2 news. After a report about the phone's potential new processor and RAM upgrades, we now have our supposed first look at Google's second folding phone. And ... well, it sure is something.

These photos of the Pixel Fold 2 come courtesy of Android Authority, who received them from an anonymous source — the same source that claims the Pixel Fold 2 will have a Tensor G4 chip. Right off the bat, you can see that something funky is happening with the phone's camera module.

Read more
The Google Pixel Fold 2 just got a lot more exciting
A person holding the Google Pixel Fold.

It's widely expected that Google is working on a Pixel Fold 2, and according to one new report, Google's second folding phone could get a much-needed performance upgrade. We're talking a vastly upgraded processor and significantly more RAM — and those are both really big deals.

According to a recent report from Android Authority, citing an unnamed source, "Google has been testing the Pixel Fold 2 internally for the last couple of months." That shouldn't come as a huge surprise. The more interesting tidbit is that the Pixel Fold 2 will reportedly have a Tensor G4 chipset instead of the Tensor G3 one found inside the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. Google hasn't announced its Tensor G4 chip yet, though it will likely debut in the Pixel 9 series later this fall.

Read more