The first thing that came to mind when I saw the G5 successor was how fragile it looked. With a near bezel-less display, the G6 is wrapped in a layer of glass, and sort of begs to be cracked and shattered at the first opportunity. No surprise really, given that manufacturers are sort of forced to build phones like this to please the most demanding of users. After all, there are few people who would prefer a plastic phone over a metal and glass one.
But it seems that our worries may be unfounded. Jerry from popular YouTube channel JerryRigEverything took the G6 through its paces, and the phone didn’t fare that bad.
The screen scratches at the typical 6 Moh hardness, and the metal sides were pretty easily defaced by the utility knife. What stood out was the fact that the fingerprint scanner worked flawlessly after being scratched to smithereens, and that the phone didn’t budge much under the bending force.
But this alone doesn’t make me the impression that the G6 is durable.
What does?
The LG G6 is rated with Military Standard 810G, something that LG hasn’t capitalized on much. The 810G certification is awarded when a product meets certain standards set in the military, used to test products before real life use. In short, the G6 was subject to drops, bangs, dust, sand, water and other elements in specific ways and it survived in good condition, meaning that the screen and body was still intact, with a few bumps and scratches allowed.
One of the tests involves dropping the phone from waist height and chest height repeatedly. Given that this is what really happens on a daily basis, it’s an accurate depiction of the G6 in real life.
Before today, I never knew that the G6 had this rating. If LG advertised it as a main feature, it may actually have a chance of competing with the S8. I’d personally choose the G6 over the even more fragile-looking S8 if I knew that it wasn’t a wuss standing up to abuse and damage.
Our own writer Derrick Miyao recently wrote about his experiences with his fragile Galaxy S7, and how expensive it is to be repaired. You can read more about that here.
