The OnePlus 10 Pro – like most flagship phones – is a handset you’ll want to be careful with. This sleek and expensive melding of metal and glass doesn’t exactly look rugged, but in a durability test it performed even worse than most high-end handsets.
JerryRigEverything put the phone to the test, and initially it performed well enough, standing up adequately to being scratched, and with the screen even withstanding the heat from a lighter flame for around 40 seconds.
But then came the bend test, and it’s here that the OnePlus 10 Pro didn’t perform so well. Bending it with pressure applied to the back caused the rear glass to crack extensively, which already is more damage than many phones sustain in this test, though the device is still functional at this point.
Not for long though, as bending the phone with pressure applied to the screen instead causes the whole thing to snap in half, with the flashlight staying on but the OnePlus 10 Pro otherwise ceasing to function.
So why is it so easy to snap? Digging under the surface reveals that at the point where it snapped, only the side rails provide any real structural integrity, and the volume button is placed at that same point, removing some of the frame on that side, while on the other edge there’s an antenna line and a thinner metal frame than expected.
So it sounds like the OnePlus 10 Pro wasn’t as well designed from a durability perspective as it could have been.
Interestingly, the video also notes that there’s apparently no water resistance rating – though the SIM card slot still has a water-protective gasket. The official specs list for the OnePlus 10 Pro doesn’t mention water resistance, but the OnePlus 9 Pro did have an IP68 rating, so it seems odd that the new model apparently doesn’t, and that’s one more way in which it’s not built to last.
Analysis: use a case, and avoid back pockets
While this video is a worry, it’s probably not that likely that the level of force shown here will be applied to your phone, so it shouldn’t be too hard to avoid this fate.
That said, there are things you can do to help the OnePlus 10 Pro along if you choose to buy it when it finally launches outside China.
For one thing, putting it in a case is obviously helpful. As well as protecting against scratches and impacts, a case can add some structural integrity to the phone, making it a lot harder to bend.
Beyond that, you might want to think twice about putting it in a back pocket, as in day-to-day life that’s the place where it’s probably most likely to experience these sorts of bends.
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Via GSMArena
