Samsung denies Galaxy S6 Edge bends, claims it’s stronger than five pencils

7 Apr 2015

Following the bizarre bendy iPhone 6 Plus stories of last year, Samsung is fighting back against footage showing its Galaxy S6 performing in much the same way under pressure.

SquareTrade decided to test out Samsung’s device against the iPhone 6 Plus and the HTC One M9 (also just released), to see which of the three top-end smartphones could handle the most, or least, pressure.

By using its bizarre ‘bend bot’ machine, it applied pressure on the centre of the front face of each phone.

The results were that both the Galaxy S6 Edge as well as the iPhone 6 Plus bent under the same force of pressure, which was 110lbs. The HTC One M9 did a fair bit better, bending (and breaking) at 140lbs.

Samsung has since come out defending its latest device, saying the test was ineffective, and that the pressure was applied in an unrealistic way. Initially the electronics giant complained that the 110lbs of force rarely occurs under normal circumstances, with usual force being 60pc of that (66lb).

“Our internal test results indicate that the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are not bendable even under 79lb (32kg), which is equivalent to putting pressure to snap a bundle of five pencils at once.”

Samsung goes on to claim that the back of the phone may well be stronger than the front, something SquareTrade did not test, meaning it only established half of a truth, presumably.

Basically by only testing the strength of the middle of the front face of the phone, it ignores the opposing pressure put on the other side at either end – something Samsung itself explains in this video.

Our very own John Kennedy, when putting the full force of his glare on the Galaxy S6 Edge at CES this year, saw no discernible damage. His one-word review was actually “beautiful”, rather than “bendy”.

Either way, when it gets to the stage that people are just smashing up these devices, it’s usually best to not get involved. Samsung obviously felt otherwise, having also announced reduced profits in its latest tranche of financial results.

It actually expects the trend of operating profit declines to continue into the first quarter, forecasting an operating profit of US$5.3bn, which is down 30pc year-on-year.

It has now to deal with a fresh rival in the premium smartphone realm, with HTC joining Apple as thorns in the Korean giant’s side.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge image via SamsungTomorrow on Flickr

Gordon Hunt was a journalist with Silicon Republic

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