BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

iPhone X: How Does It Handle Speed, Durability, Drop And Water Tests?

This article is more than 6 years old.

Apple

Shortly after the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus devices were released on September 22, 2017, several reviewers put the two Apple flagship smartphones through speed, durability, drop and water tests (results of the iPhone 8 tests and iPhone 8 Plus tests). Since the iPhone X was released on November 3rd, those same tests were performed on Apple's higher-end smartphone more recently.

The iPhone X was designed a bit different than the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus as it has a larger edge-to-edge OLED display. And the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus devices are built with a combination of glass and aluminum whereas the iPhone X is covered in glass and stainless steel. By switching to glass on the front and back of the devices, the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X supports wireless charging. All three new iPhones have an IP67 rating so they are splash-, water- and dust-resistant. To learn more about how the iPhone X performs in speed, durability, drop and water tests, check out the breakdown below:

iPhone X Speed Tests

Like the iPhone 8 Plus, inside of the iPhone X is an Apple A11 Bionic chipset and 3GB of RAM so it is speedy. The iPhone 8 also has an A11 Bionic chipset, but it has 2GB of RAM instead.

In speed tests featuring the iPhone 8 Plus against the Galaxy Note 8 — which has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset and 6GB of RAM — the two devices seemed to be formidable opponents. The iPhone 8 Plus opened some apps faster than the Galaxy Note 8 and vice versa. So it seems reasonable to expect that the iPhone X would have comparable results:

iPhone X Vs Samsung Galaxy Note 8

EverythingApplePro was one of the first YouTubers to test out the iPhone X against the Galaxy Note 8. In a speed test, EverythingApplePro opened up apps in this order: Clock, Snapchat, Instagram, Camera, Google Maps, Photoshop, Minecraft, Super Mario Run, Asphalt 8 Airborne, Netflix, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Zynga Poker, Spotify, Amazon, Soundcloud, Yelp and Videoshop (4K video edit test). The Note 8 took slightly longer taking a photo and opening Minecraft, but it really slowed down during the video edit test in Videoshop. The iPhone X ended the first round in 2 minutes and 47 seconds whereas the Galaxy Note 8 took 4 minutes and 46 seconds.

In the second round, EverythingApplePro pointed out that the iPhone X had to reload some of the apps that were opened before the 4K video was edited in Videoshop. The iPhone X ended round two in 1 minute and 5 seconds. Due to the extra RAM in the Galaxy Note 8, it did not have to reload any apps and ended round two in only 38 seconds.

For the startup speed test, the iPhone X powered up a few seconds faster than the Galaxy Note 8. However, people rarely power their smartphones off so this test should not be viewed as a factor when deciding which of the two to buy.

In another test, EverythingApplePro conducted synchronized app opening between both devices. The iPhone X won at opening the Camera, Adobe Photoshop, Zynga Poker and Amazon apps faster. And the Galaxy Note 8 won at opening Snapchat, Instagram, Google Maps, Super Mario Run, Asphalt 8, Netflix, Spotify, Soundcloud and the Yelp apps faster. The devices tied at opening Minecraft. Interestingly, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 loaded up the websites Apple.com and Samsung.com faster than the iPhone X in the native web browsers.

SuperSaf TV also tested the iPhone X against the Galaxy Note 8. One of the first things that SuperSaf TV tested was the camera — which opened in about the same amount of time on both devices. The Galaxy Note 8 opened the Twitter, Instagram, Facebook Pages, YouTube and Super Mario Run apps faster. And the iPhone X opened Angry Birds 2, Sonic Dash 2, Temple Run 2, Subway Surfers Mexico, Dead Trigger 2, Asphalt 8 and Real Steel World Robot Boxing faster.

Then SuperSaf TV reopened all of the apps in the background to see if any of them had to be reloaded. Asphalt 8, Dead Trigger 2 and Subway Surfers Mexico were still open on both devices, but the iPhone X had to reload Temple Run 2, Sonic Dash 2, Super Mario Run, Angry Birds 2, YouTube, Facebook Pages, Instagram and Twitter. The iPhone 8 Plus actually seemed to keep more games open in the same test.

Check out the next page (desktop users) or keep scrolling down (mobile users) for the durability test.

iPhone X Durability Test

YouTube channel JerryRigEverything performed a scratch test on the iPhone X. Based on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness with a scale of 2-9. The iPhone X scratched at a level 6 and a deeper groove at a level 7 just like the iPhone 8. Scratching the glass with a razor blade did not cause any damage to the display.

Inside of the notch at the top of the iPhone X is the metal earpiece grill, which held in place and did not fall out after it was scraped with a razor blade. And the holes are small enough to keep the dirt and metal shavings from getting inside the magnetic speaker. And since the front-facing camera is covered in the glass, it did not get scratched by the razor blade either. Plus the back of the device is covered in glass so it did not scratch until the level 6 metal pick was rubbed against it.

The rear camera is covered in sapphire so it was able to resist scratching from a razor blade. And since the sides and the buttons of the iPhone X are made from stainless steel, which makes it much more resilient than aluminum. The stainless steel frame especially performed well in the scratch test.

JerryRigEverything also did a bend test on the iPhone X. What JerryRigEverything noticed was that there was a minor flex to the body as the frame was bent, but there was not any screen separation or body damage along the antenna lines.

Check out the next page (desktop users) or keep scrolling down (mobile users) for the drop tests.

iPhone X Drop Tests

As mentioned earlier, the front and the back of the iPhone X is wrapped in a custom blend of materials in collaboration with Corning, the manufacturer behind the popular Gorilla Glass parts. And the glass material used in the iPhone X, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus is supposed to be stronger than Gorilla Glass 5.

What makes this test especially important is that the cost of fixing an iPhone X is high. For example: if you need to replace the shattered glass on the back of the iPhone X and you do not have an AppleCare+ warranty, then the cost is $549 and a screen repair is slightly under $300 through Apple’s retail stores. So I definitely recommend putting a case on the iPhone X as soon as possible.

YouTube channel EverythingApplePro did a drop test on the iPhone X to see how well it would perform. EverythingApplePro performed the iPhone X test alongside the iPhone 8. When the iPhone 8 and iPhone X devices were dropped from waist height on the back and sides, it did not cause any scratches. And both devices ended up being fine after being dropped front first at waist height. At head height, the iPhone 8 shattered and the iPhone X ended up surviving without any damage after being dropped on the back first. And when the iPhone 8 was dropped on its side after, a chunk of the exterior broke off and it warped a bit. The iPhone X was not damaged after it was dropped on the side.

When the iPhone 8 and iPhone X were dropped face first at head height, both devices did not look any more damaged than they already were. However, the Face ID function on the iPhone X stopped working after the drop tests. What this proves is that the stainless steel wrapped around the iPhone X is resistant to damage. So it would take a lot of effort to get the iPhone X to shatter.

JerryRigEverything set up drop tests with the iPhone X and the iPhone 8 Plus. JerryRigEverything put the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X devices on his lap, stood up and did not find any damage on the first round. After doing it again, the iPhone 8 Plus shattered on the back completely.

Then he did a test where he took the two devices out of his pocket and dropped each one on the front. The iPhone 8 Plus shattered even more during that test. And the iPhone X survived that test. But the glass on the iPhone X got slightly nicked on the second pocket test and shattered on the third pocket test. At head height, the front of the iPhone X got slightly nicked in the bottom left corner and the back shattered everywhere.

Check out the next page (desktop users) or keep scrolling down (mobile users) for the water tests.

iPhone X Water Tests

The iPhone X has an IP67 rating, which means it can handle 1 meter (3.2 feet) of water submersion for up to 30 minutes. So it should be able to handle the water pressure of a swimming pool on the shallow end, but I would not recommend swimming underwater with the iPhone X below 3.5 feet.

EverythingApplePro also did a water test on the iPhone X. The first test was submerging the iPhone X at the 1 meter mark for 30 minutes and nothing happened. After that, EverythingApplePro kept the water submerged at 5 feet without a problem. Then he took the iPhone X to a river and placed it 20 feet underwater for 5 minutes and there was still no problem.

Then EverythingApplePro put a case on the iPhone X and tossed it in the washing machines without any signs of water damage. “I am thoroughly convinced that this is Apple’s most durable phone ever. Wow!” said EverythingApplePro in the video.

YouTube personality Mo Vlogs had his sister Lana Rose take the iPhone X for a swim. After submerging it underwater in the shallow water, it worked just fine. And then when Rose swam laps underwater while holding the iPhone X, it still worked well.

Another popular YouTube personality, Jenna Ezarikdecided to try out the Face ID facial recognition system underwater with her sister Justine (also known as iJustine). The test ended up being inconclusive because the Home indicator swipe feature on the iPhone X did not work underwater.

What Are Some Of The Other iPhone X Features?

The iPhone X is available in a Space Gray and Silver finish with a 64GB or 256GB storage capacity. The size of the iPhone X is 5.65 inches (143.6 mm) x 2.79 inches (70.9 mm) x 0.30 inches (7.7 mm) and the weight is 6.14 ounces (174 grams). On the front of the iPhone X is a 5.8-inch Super Retina HD OLED multi-touch display with a 2436-by-1125-pixel resolution (458 ppi). Complementing the A11 Bionic chip with 64-bit architecture is a neural engine and an embedded M11 motion coprocessor.

On the back of the iPhone X is 12-megapixel wide-angle (ƒ/1.8 aperture) and telephoto (ƒ/2.4 aperture) cameras with optical zoom and digital zoom up to 10x. The cameras support Portrait mode, Portrait Lighting (beta) and dual optical image stabilization. The panorama mode takes photos up to 63-megapixels. In terms of video, the iPhone X supports 4K video recording 24 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps; 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps or 60 fps; and 720p HD video recording at 30 fps.

The TrueDepth camera on the front is 7-megapixels with Portrait mode, Portrait Lighting (beta), Animoji support, 1080p HD video recording, Retina Flash and an ƒ/2.2 aperture. The Face ID facial recognition system is used for unlocking the iPhone X and verifying iTunes and Apple Pay purchases. And the wireless technology included in the iPhone X is Bluetooth 5.0, NFC with reader mode and iBeacon microlocation.

The battery lasts up to 2 hours longer than the iPhone 7 and has up to 21 hours of talk time (wireless), 12 hours Internet use, 13 hours video playback (wireless), 60 hours audio playback (wireless). And it is fast-charge capable with up to a 50% charge in 30 minutes. Like the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, the iPhone X supports wireless charging with Qi-certified chargers.

Follow me on Twitter