Samsung has taken issue with a stress test that showed the Galaxy Edge S6's frame bending and screen cracking under applied pressure, saying a smartphone wouldn't experience such force in normal use.
The Galaxy 6S Edge bent and its screen shattered after being exposed to 110 pounds of force, according to a test conducted by SquareTrade, which sells warranties for smartphones, tablets and other electronics. Even with a shattered screen, the phone still worked. SquareTrade posted a video of the test on Thursday.
SquareTrade also tested the iPhone 6 Plus and the HTC One M9. The iPhone bent under 110 pounds of force, but the screen remained intact. The HTC device bent and became inoperable after it suffered 120 pounds of force.
On Monday, Samsung issued a statement that listed the company's problems with SquareTrade's test.
Samsung claimed that smartphones are rarely exposed to that much force, and that 66 pounds is the "normal force" generated when a person sits. It maintains that the Galaxy S6 Edge won't bend at even 79 pounds of force.
Samsung also said that because SquareTrade only tested the front of the phone, the test failed to show the strength of the phone's back. It wants SquareTrade to conduct the test again, this time subjecting both the front and back of the phone to applied force.
"We are confident that all our smartphones are not bendable under daily usage," said Samsung, which also included a video of its Galaxy S6 phones undergoing stress tests.
While it's not terribly surprising that a smartphone will eventually break or bend under pressure, Samsung has emphasized the durability of its devices in marketing campaigns.
When Samsung debuted the Galaxy 6 line in March at Mobile World Congress, a company executive said that the metal used in the devices is 50 percent stronger than the material found in other smartphones and that "this stuff will not bend." And Samsung ran ads poking fun at Apple when reports emerged that the iPhone 6 might bend after being kept in a user's back pocket.
Fred O'Connor writes about IT careers and health IT for The IDG News Service. Follow Fred on Twitter at @fredjoconnor. Fred's e-mail address is fred_o'connor@idg.com