Consumer Reports pits Android handsets against the iPhone in bend-test battle royale

Consumer Reports released a new video today taking on claims of overly-flexible iPhones that have appeared online recently. Apple noted that only a handful of complaints have come in and gave journalists a look at its testing procedures. Regardless of Cupertino’s claims, Consumer Reports kept its promise to conduct testing that was a bit more scientific in nature than previous YouTube videos.

To address these claims, several different phones were tested under up to 150 pounds of pressure to see when each model would stop “snapping back” to its original shape. The devices tested were the iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 5, HTC One M8, Samsung Galaxy Note 3, and LG G3.

Overall, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus weren’t the sturdiest phones tested, though they also weren’t the weakest. That title goes to the One M8, which buckled under only 70 pounds of pressure. Surprising—and contrary to recent reports—the iPhone 6 Plus managed to hold until the 90 pound mark, putting it 20 pounds ahead of the smaller model and making it the 4th strongest phone tested (out of 6, mind you).

Taking the top prize for durability was the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, which only began to deform under 150 pounds of pressure. The LG G3 tied for  second place when it lost its shape at the 130 pound mark, on par with the iPhone 5.

Consumer Reports also tested how much force was needed to cause the display to actually separate from the case, finding that an additional 20-30 pounds was needed for most phones, with only the G3 and Note 3 requiring no additional weight to separate.

So while we can from these results that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are by no means the most durable phones on the market, they’re not as likely to take any permanent damage from your pockets or bare hands as recent reports would have you believe.

You can watch the full test in the video below.

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