Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Will it bend? Watch the iPhone SE and iPhone 6S submit to torture tests

By Christian de Looper Published April 4, 2016

Do you tend to sit on your phone? Well, if recent bend tests for the new iPhone SE are anything to go by, you might want to look elsewhere for your next device.

The iPhone SE uses the same general design as the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S, and it certainly looks like a strong phone with its aluminum body. Despite this, the bend tests conducted by SquareTrade suggest that the iPhone 6S is actually quite a bit stronger than Apple’s new 4-inch phone.

Recommended Videos

Although the iPhone SE is thicker than the iPhone 6S, it’s not as strong. Whether that’s because the iPhone 6S has stronger aluminum or not is unclear, but the results are in. According to SquareTrade, the iPhone SE only needed 160 pounds of pressure before it bent. That’s a full 10 pounds less than the 170 pounds needed to bend the iPhone 6S. It took 178 pounds for the iPhone SE to reach “catastrophic failure,” or the point at which the phone is completely ruined and unusable.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen the iPhone’s strength put to the test. When the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were first released, customers found that they bent a lot more easily than previous iPhones. The incident quickly became known as Bendgate, and prompted Apple to up the ante for the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, both of which can withstand much more pressure than their predecessors.

Related: See the iPad Pro in two sizes here

The iPhone 6S is also able to handle water better than the new iPhone SE. When dunked in water, the iPhone SE permanently turned off in less than one minute. The iPhone 6S, however, stayed on for a full 30 minutes, and even then, only the phone’s audio was damaged.

Regardless of your opinion of the iPhone SE in general, one thing is clear — if you need a phone that can withstand some abuse, then perhaps look into a more durable phone, instead.

Topics

Christian de Looper

Contributor

Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…

Mobile

Oppo’s next phone has an iPhone 16 Pro-beating feature

Close up of the Find X8 Pro camera on a colorful background

Oppo's compact flagship phone is close to launching, is confirmed to be called the Oppo Find X8s. The company has been teasing its advancements over the competition fervently and recently threw light on the phone's display upgrades over other phones, including one way it beats the iPhone 16 Pro.

The Oppo Find X8s is claimed to feature extremely thin bezels along all four sides of its display. Zhou Yibao, the product manager for Oppo's flagship Find series, shared an image on Chinese social media Weibo comparing the bezels on the upcoming compact phone -- previously speculated to be called the Find X8 Mini -- with those on what appears to be an iPhone 16 Pro or the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Mobile

iPhone 17 Air might not serve a price shock, after all

Alleged concept render of the iPhone 17 Air in black.

Ever since we first heard murmurs of Apple prepping an ultra-slim iPhone, speculations were rife about a fittingly high asking price. But it seems buyers won’t get hit with an absurd “innovation tax” for the iPhone 17 Air model later this year.
According to Bloomberg, the upcoming phone might be priced at “roughly $900.” To put that into perspective, that’s the same asking price as the iPhone 16 Plus. To recall, the iPhone 17 Air is expected to replace the “Plus” model in Apple’s line-up later this year.

A few pleasant surprises
The package, however, is going to be a mixed bag of surprises. For example, the slim phone is expected to offer a 6.6-inch display, but it will borrow the ProMotion display tech from the pricier Pro models. So far, the high refresh rate perk has been exclusive to Apple’s flagship iPhones and iPads.

Mobile

We just got our best look yet at the iPhone 17 Air

Face ID on the iPhone 16e

As the release for the iPhone 17 draws ever closer (expected in September 2025), more leaks have emerged — and now a set of dummy units give us a close look at the entire lineup, but specifically the iPhone 17 Air. This handset has been the source of quite a bit of speculation and rumors, and a peek at its profile shows a phone even slimmer than we had imagined.

The leaks come courtesy of Sonny Dickson, a well-known tipster. Dickson shared the images on X. It's important to remember that these units are chunks of metal; they have no electronics inside them, so we can't gauge specs based on the design. It does give us a firm look at the profile, however, and an idea of the placement of various components.