Apparently, Americans sure are clumsy with their iPhones, at least according to the data we took a look at earlier this week. Will the iPhone 5 prove to be any more durable than its predecessors? Now that the phone's arrived, and some of the first reports are coming in on just how susceptible to damage it is.
The good news is that the iPhone 5 seems largely resilient to damage from impacts. The guys over at iFixYouri put the new handset through a series of durability tests. The iPhone 5 stood up to a number of drops, working up to higher and higher heights. Eventually, from shoulder height, the phone's casing did develop a slight bend, but the phone remained functional. A forceful throw to the ground finally broke the phone's glass, but gentler drops from the same height left the phone relatively unscathed.
So far so good, but there are some questions about the tendency of the black iPhone 5 to pick up scratches. Sure, with something hard and sharp enough, any phone's going to get scratched, but the concern seems to be with how extra-visible such scratches are on the black finish. Ultimately, it seems like a minor concern for an otherwise well-built handset.