Unlike the sapphire crystal used in the Apple Watch and Apple Watch Edition, the low-end Apple Watch Sport uses a scratch-resistant fortified ion-X glass display to protect your next must-have Apple device from the wear-and-tear of its daily grind. But how does it hold up?
Thanks to Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy we apparently have our answer. Using ion-X glass covers provided by Apple leaker extraordinaire Sonny Dickson, Hilsenteger runs the glass covers through a gauntlet of keys, knives, steel wool, and different types of sandpaper.
You can check out his video below.
As you can see, the key, knife, and steel wool in no way damage the glass, although sandpaper does still harm it, which means that you’ll want to be a bit careful when using your Sport, particularly in situations like brushing up against uneven surfaces (walls, for example) which emulate the coarseness of sandpaper.
Whether ion-X glass turns out to be any harder than the Corning Gorilla Glass Apple uses for its iPhones remains to be seen, but for now this should give you a decent primer in what conditions you can reasonably expect the Apple Watch Sport to withstand.
Provided these ion-X samples are the real thing, that is!
Source: Unbox Therapy/YouTube
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
6 responses to “Just how scratch-resistant will your Apple Watch Sport be?”
Has there been any real world info as to how water resistant the watch is? I would be interested to know if it can be worn while swimming, etc.
To call a watch water resistant it must meet the minimum standard. ISO 2281 water resistance testing of a watch consists of:
Resistance when immersed in water at a depth of 10 cm. Immersion of the watch in 10 cm of water for 1 hour.
Resistance of operative parts. Immersion of the watch in 10 cm of water with a force of 5 N perpendicular to the crown and pusher buttons (if any) for 10 minutes.
Condensation test. The watch shall be placed on a heated plate at a temperature between 40 °C and 45 °C until the watch has reached the temperature of the heated plate (in practice, a heating time of 10 minutes to 20 minutes, depending on the type of watch, will be sufficient). A drop of water, at a temperature between 18 °C and 25 °C shall be placed on the glass of the watch. After about 1 minute, the glass shall be wiped with a dry rag. Any watch which has condensation on the interior surface of the glass shall be eliminated.
Resistance to different temperatures. Immersion of the watch in 10 cm of water at the following temperatures for 5 minutes each, 40 °C, 20 °C and 40 °C again, with the transition between temperatures not to exceed 1 minute. No evidence of water intrusion or condensation is allowed.
Resistance to water overpressure. Immersion of the watch in a suitable pressure vessel and subjecting it within 1 minute to the rated pressure for 10 minutes, or to 2 bar in case where no additional indication is given. Then the overpressure is reduced to the ambient pressure within 1 minute. No evidence of water intrusion or condensation is allowed.
Resistance to air overpressure. Exposing the watch to an overpressure of 2 bar. The watch shall show no air-flow exceeding 50 μg/min.
Thank you for the longest answer to a question I didn’t ask. I know what water resistance is and can copy/paste from wikipedia as well. I have a dozen or so dive watches that range from the pedestrian to the exotic with an equally broad range of water resistance depth. So I will condense the question and say it slower, can you swim with it? Have a nice day :)
Oh, sorry. I didn’t realise you couldn’t read. You must as stupid as you are illiterate if you’re going to wear an Apple watch while swimming. Can’t your mom help you take it off first just before she changes your diaper?
FYI ion-x glass is what was used on the 6+ screen to make it slightly tougher than the regular 6 screen.
Anyone willing to cheap out for a non sapphire screen on a watch that expensive is crazy.
It just sucks because I’d want the less is more look of the space gray aluminum but with the sapphire glass. I have an iPhone 6+ and the screen has held up amazingly well!