iPhone 6 bending not so easy, Consumer Reports says

In the so-called "Bend-gate" brouhaha that started last week, some iPhone 6 Plus users discovered that their new phones could bend under pressure. Despite the uproar online, Apple said it received only 9 customer complaints. So Consumer Reports decided to test just how "bendy" the new iPhones really are, compared with other smartphones.

Their findings? "Our tests show that both iPhones seem tougher than the Internet fracas implies," Consumer Reports said on its website.

To test the phones, the investigators supported each device at two points on both ends, applying force from above to the middle part of the phone, as demonstrated in this video. The y tested six smartphones: the two new iPhone 6's, the HTC One (M8), Samsung Galaxy Note 3, LG G3 and the iPhone 5. They started with relatively light pressure, applying 10 pounds of force for 10 seconds and then releasing. They then increased the force by 10-pound increments.

The phones that turned out to be the most "bendable" were the iPhone 6 and HTC One, but even with each of these two, it took 70 pounds of force to bend permanently and 90 to 100 pounds of force to separate the screen from the case. Samsung Galaxy Note 3 turned out to be the most bend-resistant, reaching its bending limit at 150 pounds. As for the iPhone 6 Plus, it started to deform at the force of 90 pounds and it came apart at 110 pounds.

"It took significant force to do this kind of damage to all these phones," Consumer Reports concluded. "While nothing is (evidently) indestructible, we expect that any of these phones should stand up to typical use."

Here is how all the phones performed in the test:

HTC One (M8)

Deformation: 70 pounds

Case separation: 90 pounds

Apple iPhone 6

Deformation: 70

Case separation: 100

Apple iPhone 6 Plus

Deformation: 90

Case separation: 110

LG G3

Deformation: 130

Case separation: 130

Apple iPhone 5

Deformation: 130

Case separation: 150

Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Deformation: 150

Case separation: 150

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