Now that Samsung’s Galaxy S20 Ultra, as well as the S20 and S20 +, are available for purchase, it’s reasonable to check how durable these expensive phones are.
The answer, according to several tests that we have seen, is somewhat surprising. Although it has the largest screen, the S20 Ultra is the most durable of the group, with a high resistance to bending and overall less chance of breaking in the event of a fall. However, that doesn’t mean you can just launch the S20 Ultra at will.
In the fairly comprehensive SquareTrade test, which included dropping the phones on the face, back, bending, tilting, and submerging them in water, all S20 devices suffered serious damage.
The difference? Well, the S20 Ultra still worked after being dropped on the face, while the S20 and S20 + weren’t. In the “rear” drop test, the S20 + did slightly better than the other two phones, but generally all three were quite explosive.
The S20 + and S20 Ultra fared a little better than the S20 in the tumble test but again, the three phones broke. In the cornering tests, the S20 Ultra was the big winner, as it took 200.7 pounds of pressure to break, compared to 184.6 pounds and 170.8 pounds for the S20 and S20 +, respectively.
The three devices survived after being soaked in five feet of water for 30 minutes without being damaged.
YouTuber JerryRigEverything has released its own S20 Ultra durability test, although it focused on scraping and bending the device instead of knocking it down.
Again, the S20 Ultra was very flex-resistant and surprisingly scratch-resistant – within reason, of course. If you wear a scalpel to its frame, for example, you can scratch it and peel its paint.
In another video, PhoneBuff tested the durability of the S20 Ultra against the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
It was another drop test, and the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra fared slightly better than the iPhone 11 Pro Max. The S20 Ultra barely gets a scratch in the drop test, while the iPhone is completely broken in the same test.
The results were similar in the face drop test, the screen of the S20 Ultra being slightly cracked compared to the screen of the broken iPhone. The S20 Ultra did a little worse when it fell to the side, as its aluminum frame suffers more damage than the steel frame of the iPhone.
Overall, Samsung’s most expensive phone seems to be quite durable, although we always recommend that you get a case. Because, you know, $ 1,400 and everything.
