Watch: Galaxy S8 Is More Breakable Than S7

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Tests from mobile protection company SquareTrade show the Galaxy S8 to be easily breakable.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is without a doubt the most beautiful phone I've ever seen, and while I've kept a case on about every phone I've owned, I'd want to make the S8 an exception. It's curved, glass body is one to behold.

Square Trade found the Galaxy S8 to be less durable than the S7. Credit: Square Trade

(Image credit: Square Trade found the Galaxy S8 to be less durable than the S7. Credit: Square Trade)

But then again, I'm also known to drop my phone, and the latest scientific tests from SquareTrade show that the phone is super-fragile. Maybe a case is worth it.

SquareTrade sells protection plans for mobile devices, so it's not like it doesn't have an M.O. here, but the carnage in the video of the tests is enough to make anyone think twice about letting their S8 go naked. The company has changed its scoring this year, but says the S8 is far more fragile than last year's S7.

The phone's screen shattered on the first attempt to drop it on both its back and front (in fact, dropping on one side led to cracks on the other), and some glass fell off entirely. That's especially bad (and potentially dangerous) because of the software buttons. When SquareTrade dumped the S8 and S8+ in water, they both had some audio distortion afterward, but that returned to normal after half an hour.

MORE: 10 Reasons Galaxy S8 Beats the iPhone 7

The company gave the Galaxy S8 a breakability score of 76 and the S8+ a score of 77, declaring both devices are "medium-high risk." Both received tepid grades on repairability because of a strong adhesive holding the back panel to the phone. But once it's pried open, it's not too difficult to replace parts if you have the know-how (though the battery can be tricky).

See Tom's Guide's review of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ here.

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Andrew E. Freedman
Andrew E. Freedman

Andrew E. Freedman is an editor at Tom's Hardware focusing on laptops, desktops and gaming as well as keeping up with the latest news. He holds a M.S. in Journalism (Digital Media) from Columbia University. A lover of all things gaming and tech, his previous work has shown up in Kotaku, PCMag, Complex, Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag among others.

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9 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Daekar3
    In other news, investigators have concluded that large weighted slabs of very thin glass crack when hitting things, and curved edges make things worse. Your WDUH7 local news station has the story at 11, including interviews with the crazy idiots that carry large weighted slabs of very thin glass without a protective case.
    Reply
  • Torry Cox
    19604781 said:
    In other news, investigators have concluded that large weighted slabs of very thin glass crack when hitting things, and curved edges make things worse. Your WDUH7 local news station has the story at 11, including interviews with the crazy idiots that carry large weighted slabs of very thin glass without a protective case.
    Completely agree with you.
    Reply
  • Eric D
    So much for that Gorilla Glass, right? But if you drop a phone from six feet, my expectation is that it's gonna break every time. This one does look very fragile though now that it's missing it's metal sides. That said, I'm still going to get one and I'm not doing a case. I'm really good about not dropping my phones. Haven't broken one yet.
    Reply
  • PrimeMinisterTech
    I had the phone for a day and it fell out of my hands, and that was it. I mean, i expected it would survive a few days and this wasn't an extreme fall. Really frustrating because I was waiting for the case to arrive, but it hit that top edge just right and there's now a $199 chip on my new expensive toy.
    Reply
  • Eric D
    19607067 said:
    I had the phone for a day and it fell out of my hands, and that was it. I mean, i expected it would survive a few days and this wasn't an extreme fall. Really frustrating because I was waiting for the case to arrive, but it hit that top edge just right and there's now a $199 chip on my new expensive toy.
    Ouch, that's no good. I feel for you. It is quite an expensive toy. Otherwise, do you love it?
    Reply
  • PrimeMinisterTech
    19607093 said:
    19607067 said:
    I had the phone for a day and it fell out of my hands, and that was it. I mean, i expected it would survive a few days and this wasn't an extreme fall. Really frustrating because I was waiting for the case to arrive, but it hit that top edge just right and there's now a $199 chip on my new expensive toy.
    Ouch, that's no good. I feel for you. It is quite an expensive toy. Otherwise, do you love it?

    Yes, it's been great! I think the glass doesn't contribute to a "heavy" feel, and even though i have the s8+ it's great in my hands. The battery life has been pretty impressive so far, as well as the camera which has a multi-point focus that's pretty darn good.

    I'll post more as I use the phone. At the moment, I'm just trying to figure out what the best way to approach the repair is. Samsung hasn't launched their new plan for the S8+. When i called their support department they said yes, just buy the plan when it launches and we'll get you a replacement....supposedly that's post the 'official' launch, but i'll see. As I said before, I'll wait because $199 is not great.
    Reply
  • Chris_451
    Wife had hers for 3 days, i watched as it slipped out of her pocket and fell 3.5 feet and shattered. Yikes.. very very fragile phone.
    Reply
  • Chris_451
    My wife just got a s8 sunday.. she dropped it about 3 feet on onto concrete,.. screen shattered in 3 spots... very very very frigile phone.
    Reply
  • Eric D
    19609122 said:
    19607093 said:
    19607067 said:
    I had the phone for a day and it fell out of my hands, and that was it. I mean, i expected it would survive a few days and this wasn't an extreme fall. Really frustrating because I was waiting for the case to arrive, but it hit that top edge just right and there's now a $199 chip on my new expensive toy.
    Ouch, that's no good. I feel for you. It is quite an expensive toy. Otherwise, do you love it?

    Yes, it's been great! I think the glass doesn't contribute to a "heavy" feel, and even though i have the s8+ it's great in my hands. The battery life has been pretty impressive so far, as well as the camera which has a multi-point focus that's pretty darn good.

    I'll post more as I use the phone. At the moment, I'm just trying to figure out what the best way to approach the repair is. Samsung hasn't launched their new plan for the S8+. When i called their support department they said yes, just buy the plan when it launches and we'll get you a replacement....supposedly that's post the 'official' launch, but i'll see. As I said before, I'll wait because $199 is not great.

    Agreed, it's another $200 on top of what you just shelled out. I think that I need to shop for a new plan, I had to get a replacement for my S6 and they gave me a refurbished one. That one is part of my T-Mobile plan. I would really prefer a new phone if something happens.
    Reply