Essential Phone drop test reveals a shockingly strong ceramic back, but you should definitely buy a screen protector [Video]

Ben Schoon | Sep 11 2017 - 7:56 am PT

Dropping your phone is no fun, especially if it’s vulnerable to breaking, and today’s bezel-less devices are a bit more prone to this than others. However, Essential has been pretty confident in its titanium frame and use of Gorilla Glass 5, to the point that it offers no options for protecting the PH-1. Today one of the first Essential drop tests has been performed, and the results weren’t all that pretty.

There are only two actual drop tests on YouTube (that we could find) so far, and both result in a damaged phone. One comes from JerryRigEverything who took his stress tested unit to the concrete to see how it would fare.

The initial test here came from a drop from knee height, and the screen immediately cracked. It’s important to note that the integrity of the glass was somewhat compromised due to the previous scratch testing, but it also seems like this was just an unlucky first drop.

Further drops didn’t damage the screen further until taking the height up a notch, but what’s impressive in this test is how well the ceramic and titanium frame held up.

Ceramic is a brittle material that many suspected would actually break before the glass, but this test proves it can withstand a drop and come out just fine. Throughout the test, the ceramic never broke, and the titanium frame held up just fine as well.

Now, that said, you can still break the Essential Phone’s ceramic rear and even damage that titanium frame. CNET’s test took the phone to further extremes and while the glass did hold out for quite a while, taking a staircase to break it, the titanium frame took quite a few scuffs and dents. The ceramic back still took quite a lot to break, though, requiring being used in place of a hammer to finally shatter.

So, what’s the takeaway from all of this? You can certainly use the Essential Phone caseless, as you should since this is seriously the best hardware Android has to offer. That said, you definitely need to get a screen protector for this phone. A quick look at Amazon reveals some poor reviews on currently available options, but I’ve personally ordered a few this morning that I’ll be testing this week. Stay tuned for more on that.