With Bendgate causing some worrywarts to question the structural integrity of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Consumer Reports set out to answer the question: “How much force does it take for a phone to bend — and not bend back?”
The independent consumer-testing outfit took six smartphones — including both iPhone 6 models and an iPhone 5s — into the lab and subjected them to experiments using an Instron compression testing machine. The results are surprising.
Here’s what they found (along with a video showing Consumer Reports’ torture testing).
For the testing, Consumer Reports applied weight in 10-pound increments to the three Apple phones and to an LG G3, a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and an HTC One (M8), noting the weights at which the phones bent to the point of formation. Then they pushed the phones even further, measuring the weight at which their cases separated.
The weakest of the bunch was the HTC One (M8), which deformed at 70 pounds (same as the iPhone 6) and separated at 90 pounds (the iPhone 6 held out till 100 pounds).
The larger 6 Plus fared better, deforming at 90 pounds and separating at 110. The LG G3 deformed and separated at 130 pounds, while the iPhone 5s hit 130 and 150. The best overall? The Samsung Galaxy Note 3, which took 150 pounds in each category.
For reference, the testing organization applied similar forces to pencils and a tennis ball — watch the video below to see exactly what that looks like and get a better frame of reference for just how much abuse it takes to bend a smartphone to the point of destruction.
Consumer Reports’ bottom line is this: “While not the strongest phones on the market, fears of a serious structural design flaw in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus seem overblown.” Told ya so.
Source: Consumer Reports
Lewis Wallace is the managing editor of Cult of Mac and author of our weekly newsletter, The Weekender.
He’s a San Francisco-based writer and editor specializing in technology and culture. He loves his iPhone, hates Siri, and appreciates any hardware that combines form and function.
Prior to Cult of Mac, he juggled words and ideas as culture editor at Wired.com, homepage editor at TechTV, news product manager at NBCi, copy editor at PC World, reporter at The (Hayward) Daily Review and editor in chief of EveryBody’s News in Cincinnati.
He earned a bachelor of general studies degree with a journalism certificate from the University of Cincinnati. While in school, he worked as the entertainment editor of The News Record and as editor in chief of Clifton Magazine.
He’s also a bass player, who’s recorded and performed around the United States with Those Darn Accordions, The Electric Boogie Dawgz and The Mad Maggies. When not writing, editing or laying down bass lines, he plays darts and serves on the board of the San Francisco Darts League.
33 responses to “Consumer Reports agrees with Apple: Bendgate is ‘overblown’”
Yup. No matter how sturdy it is, if you try hard enough, it will bend. But haters of course would love to think that the iPhone6 will bend by simply pressing the power button. And rivals of course want to make sure that this bad press gets out there to the public in the most unfavorable way possible to give the iPhone6 the worst impression.
So you’re of the opinion that that precise, specific application of pressure is the only type of pressure that will be applied to a smartphone in day to day use, and proves… what, exactly?
As someone said in another of these ‘consumer reports said so’ articles, applying a little bit of twist (as you would see in real situations, and did not see at all in the test) would make quite the difference. Instead Apple tests those forces separately and calls it a day.
Except the issue here is bending, not twisting. So when we disprove the bend theory, I guess you have find something else. So, how and why do you “twist” a phone? How many phones have been returned for “twisting”?
Dudeman, I think you may need to educate yourself a bit before this conversation has a chance of going anywhere, but nevertheless I’ll indulge you for now. Bending and twisting in this context are closely related – apple tests them separately, but they’re just application of force in a slightly different way. You’ll generally find that in real situations forces applied to any object are rarely just a neat, unidirectional, uniform pressure on the strongest part of the device’s body, as we saw in the tests.
If you care to inform yourself there is an article on Forbes that shows the exact reinforcement plate causing the problem; the plate is secured by a screw that allows the casing to rotate right at the weak point, largely defeating the purpose of the plate in the first place. Despite having a higher strength at its strongest point, only the 6 Plus seems to incorporate this weak point, which is why you see stories of bent 6 Plus models rather than the smaller variety.
But please, do tell how you came to your conclusion that this has been ‘disproven’ by a limited test mirroring Apple’s own test. I’m sure it has nothing to do with your personal brand loyalty and emotional investment in the subject matter.
Looks like you know everything except the link to your article in Forbes. I searched Forbes and there’s nothing that fits your description, however, the most recent, relevant article on Forbes is the one entitled “Samsung Is Running Scared As iPhone 6 Plus Soars”. If nothing else, this trumps your argument anyways.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2014/09/29/galaxy-note-4-versus-iphone-6-plus/
I just came from a Bestbuy and talked with a sales associate who said their floor model had a slight bend from the pressure of the spring cord that keeps it connected to the lock down unit. He said they didn’t notice it until they heard all the #bendgate hoopla and decided to check the phone. He said it started with a slight bend that has become more pronounced over time.
Whether or not people call it over-hyped, there appears to be some truth. He also said that during the time of his shift that day 15 units were returned. So I’m sure damage control is in full effect.
Interesting. My daughter has the 6+ and we’re not experiencing any issues at all. I experimented by twisting and pushing it around with a force that seemed reasonable and got no flex. However, when I was in BestBuy today, I spent some time talking to the sales associate to get his impressions. He said that it was way overblown as well and said the only returns they get are from people who decide it’s too big and trade it in for the 6 (he knew I wasn’t buying so didn’t have any motivation to lie about it).
So which anecdotal evidence should win? I say neither – it’s all subjective impressions. That’s why I value objectibe tests like this much more than what random BestBuy people say.
So, it’s being subjected to almost 100 pounds of force on that stand??? What are people doing to it? No doubt, you get multiple people per day doing everything they can to be the first to bend or break it. Can you say “15 minutes of fame”?
15 minutes of fame? Who? The employee didn’t video tape it… He didn’t post anything… He mentioned it in passing as we were discussing mobile products and I mentioned the bending.
I’m a lover of technology. All tech. I find it amusing how fanboys of any product or OS refuse to admit when there’s an issue.
Here’s an article about a developer whose iPhone warped while charging it.
http://www.geekwire.com/2014/photos-seattle-developer-says-new-iphone-6-bent-real-reason/
I’m done writing on these walls… I canceled my plans of getting the larger iPhone and I’m happy I did. The Note 4 is looking to be an exception device with more useful features anyway.
Or jackasses have been going into the stores to try and bend the phones on purpose.
http://www.cultofmac.com/298087/people-bending-iphone-6-plus-display-units-apple-retail-stores/
“Bendgate” was nothing but Scamsung viral marketing all along.
And i just flag you as spam…
I’m not one to complain or contribute to unsubstantiated public media executions, but I had the unfortunate experience of having my iPhone 6’s screen crack right down the middle from the home button to the top corner simply by sitting with it in my jeans pocket. I don’t wear fitted/skinny jeans and there wasn’t a significant amount of pressure. Apple graciously gave be a brand new phone without cost, but its pretty disappointing nonetheless.
I don’t understand this, I’ve had my iPhone6 in my front pocket of several pants for a week and half, no problems, no bends, nothing and I weigh 250 lbs. What’s different?
People, please don’t sit on phones. No matter how muchpleasure vibrate mode gives you… And if you’re wearing skinny pants, don’t put any smart phone bigger than 4 inches in your front pockets coz before possibly bending it, it would’ve done your groin damage first. And lastly, who in the right mind will buy an expensive phone just to intentionally bend it? What are th odds of an Iphone 6 or plus bending like that unintentionally? 9 out of 10million? That’s pretty small.. Good thing, coz atleast we know only a small portion of iphone users are either stupid or have mammoth butts. LOL
I said it before, and I’ll say it again, “Bendgate is not only overblown, but likely sponsored by Samsung who is trying to do damage control while watching record breaking sales of it’s competition.” It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve done this, they were caught with paid reviews in the past and trying to design their phones to maximize bench testing results, which, by the way, still can’t outperform iPhone6. Just sayin’…
You’re right! Samsung purposely paid Apple engineers to design a structural weakness around the volume button of the iphone 6 plus to cause it to bend and warp without much pressure! You are a genius! lol. You must tell excellent bed time stories my friend =]
That’s an embarrassingly weak response! LOL
Weak response to a weak argument. You get what ya pay for. ::shrug::
http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2014/09/27/bendgate-unbent-apple-and-viral-iphone-6-plus-bender-are-both-right/
The Forbes article does a good job of explaining that neither Apple nor Consumer Reports apparently tested for the design failure highlighted in the Unbox Therapy video. The article shows an annotated image by “alleras4” of an ifixit.com breakdown image. It appears the internal steel reinforcement bracket is anchored by a screw located too close to the lower portion of the button cutout. When a force is applied at that stress point, the fulcrum effect is too much for the ALU chassis to bear. It’s a design fault insofar as this amount of force is apparently much less than that suggested by CR’s standard Ingstron test method.
This is so funny. CR did a three point test. The bendgate video used a 4 point test. Apple deniers continue to ignore the basic fact that the structural integrity weakness is around the volume buttons and not the middle. Y’all are too funny! =]
No, what’s funny are people that think 9 reports of bent phones out of well over 10 million shows a design failure. Now that the lights are turned on, the fandroids are scattering like the cockroaches they really are.
Oh sure. 10 million google hits on bendgate and dozens of photos and videos that show iphones bending at the volume joint (Sorry that’s it’s new name now) mean nothing because Apple (Who’s best interest it would be in for this all to go away so that they can…sell more phones surprisingly enough) says their are only 9 reports of bent phones. lol wow. I thought I was naive, lol.
All phones can be bent. If you want a Samsung phone, by all means go for it. I hope you are happy now and I hope you’ll have the same wish for us who have a different preference than yours.
wow. Where was all this olive branch of peace talk when you guys were proclaiming Android’s doom and laughing at us and our clunky phones from 2008-2012. These random peace offerings are about 6 years too late. We’ve grown too strong and mighty. We will continue to press forth our advance. I was a g1 user and you guys were trying to obliterate us on the internet boards. now the table has turned turned.
You might want to seek professional help, you’ve been drinking way too much Koolaid. How about you give up on trying your best to perpetrate this silly non-issue that’s been proven false by this article and many others ( not to mention the faked YouTube videos) . You’re just another confused troll on an Apple news site trying to justify your poor choices in second rate technology.
keep sayin that to yourself. Oh I would be careful with your new, iFoil. Be sure to buy a case for it and don’t do anything normal to it…like holding it. You may activate the iJoint and accidentally fold your 6-700 dollar toy in half!
three point pressure does not prove there is no structural weakness. videos are out there for all to see – and it aint too hard to bend one.
“Not too hard”?? You did read this article, didn’t you? Roughly 100lbs of pressure doesn’t fall under the “not too hard” category.
do you even know what structural weakness is? go to youtube and search for yourself.
Great idea! Except you’re one of the suckers that are getting duped by the fake bend videos. Maybe you should be a little more discerning about what you get from youtube.
http://www.businessinsider.com/bendgate-truthers-claim-to-have-found-the-real-story-behind-the-flexible-iphone-6-2014-9
They just need to change the case from aluminum to a more lite weight, stronger and cheaper product that is more durable. It would out do the top phones durability in the bend test by 10 and knock the soaks off of Samsung…lol
But I would want a dollar from ever phone to tell them at Apple what it is…
Plus, it would open up a very sizeable industry just on patents or licensing agreements…
Consumer Report does not quote that at all. Try to find that quote in their findings. LOL
Maybe some news outlets want it to be so but that is not the case.
Lying about a quote like this just makes you … well … not credible.
What Consumer Report did show is that the new iPhones are much weaker and prone to bending than the rest of the competition and nothing more.
What they failed to discover is the structural deficiency in the iPhone 6 build which makes the point around the volume button weak and more prone to bending. than the middle of the phone.
That defect can be noticed in Unbox Therapy videos.
Check out the
“iPhone 6 Plus Bendgate: Fact or Conspiracy?”
video on Bloomberg – UT vs CR head to head.