Galaxy S20 Ultra beats iPhone 11 Pro Max in drop test … sort of

By

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra is in worse shape an iPhone 11 Pro Max after multiple drop tests.
Drop the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra a few times and it’s junk. The iPhone 11 Pro Max survived much better.
Photo: PhoneBuff

Samsung’s new flagship phone came out slightly ahead in a smash-off between with Apple’s top-tier model. The Galaxy S20 Ultra survived the early rounds of drop tests better than the iPhone 11 Pro Max.

However, at the end of multiple drops, the iPhone was still almost completely functional while the Android was utterly destroyed.

Galaxy S20 Ultra takes an early lead

PhoneBuff uses a machine to  allow each device to fall 1 meter in an impartial way. In the first round, the units are dropped onto their back. And Samsung’s product came out ahead by emerging nearly unscathed, while the back of the iPhone 11 Pro Max shattered.

In the second round, the iPhone had a narrow victory, showing less scuffing after each device fell 1 meter fall onto its corner. Neither handset experienced significant damage.

The Galaxy S20 Ultra, Samsung’s new $1,400 model, saw only minor screen cracks when dropped 1 meter onto its front, but Apple’s device experienced significant screen cracking. Although not enough to disable the touchscreen.

At the end of three drop tests, Samsung’s device is in noticeably better shape, leading to its win in PhoneBuff’s comparison. Still, both the iOS and Android models are fully functional.

iPhone 11 Pro Max shows better durability after more drop tests

Any phone that survives all three drop tests while remaining mostly functional is then dropped 1.5 meters onto its front ten times.

At the end of this bonus round, the Galaxy S20 Ultra is a wreck. The first of these drops shattered the display. After 9 drops, the display and touchscreen are completely broken, causing PhoneBuff to stop the test.

The iPhone 11 Pro Max, on the other hand, remained almost completely functional after all ten drops. There are more cracks in the front and back, but only the rear camera stopped working.

Watch the full video to see PhoneBuff’s shattering drop tests in action:

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.