Gorilla glass is for the monkeys

[aaronscribner]

Well, these phones are nowhere near indestructible as touted by everything on the Interwebs. In fact, the screen is so susceptible that not only does it just crack, it practically destroys itself if the impact with the ground at just the wrong angle.

The Nokia Lumia 920 fell out of my wife?s shirt pocket as she leaned forward to tie her shoes. The launch height is estimated to between two to three feet from the ground.

 

[Hal Diggs]

wow... I hope ATT was willing to work with you on a replacement this early in that :evil: expensive contract.

 

[aaronscribner]

wow... I hope ATT was willing to work with you on a replacement this early in that :evil: expensive contract.

I am going to ATT tonight actually, to talk with them.

 

[crystal_planet]

Well you should have waited for a diamond display. But you're right. It's Nokia's fault.

 

[palandri]

I am going to ATT tonight actually, to talk with them.

Do you have insurance?

 

[gapost]

wow... I hope ATT was willing to work with you on a replacement this early in that :evil: expensive contract.

Yeah, sorry the broken screen. Sucks.

But why should ATT "work" with someone that broke a phone and didn't get insurance. I mean, that's why there's insurance and whenever you buy ANY smartphone, and no insurance, you are taking a chance that your mini-computer might break. If I broke my phone and didn't have insurance, I would either fix it, send it for repair, or buy a new one at full cost.

 

[ironsoulreaver]

I've never heard if glass being indestructible, it's still glass and still breaks if abused and I think one would be a fool to think otherwise. Not that I'm calling you a fool but these idiots that think they can just throw their phone around and give the impression it is are. It's scratch/crack resistant glass and nothing more.

 

[tebugg]

i still have yet to see anyone on the "inter-web" say they are indestructible as you say ppl say. then your screen cracked "at just the wrong angle", well yea, any cell phone is gonna do that. it's a cell phone, it's not made of armor. plus the fact that you took the chance of not putting a case on it to absorb the impact to protect your investment. i'm not surprised this happened. yes it sucks and i hope they replace your device, but i also hope you learned your lesson. protect your device for piece of mind.

 

[nitrocs]

I personally have had my L920 fly out of my chest pocket on a few occasions to the point where my wife says I've dropped this phone more than my old iPhone. I'm 6'5" tall so thats a significant drop.
It's only got a little scuff on the corner of the glass, but no major damage.......yet

Gorilla Glass is strengthened to resist damage, but is not indestructible.

Just put on my favorite brand screen protector last night for some added security

 

[aaronscribner]

I've never heard if glass being indestructible, it's still glass and still breaks if abused and I think one would be a fool to think otherwise. Not that I'm calling you a fool but these idiots that think they can just throw their phone around and give the impression it is are. It's scratch/crack resistant glass and nothing more.

Completely understand. It is just amazing to see these phones tossed from a moving car, used as a hammer etc, and one fall from just a couple feet, without extra forward velocity and this happens.

I still have the option to purchase the insurance, but the deductible is $200 + $6.95 @ 24 months. The repair cost is $172 and a super Otter Box is $49. The Otter Box seems like better insurance to me.

I will go talk to the ATT manager, play stupid and perhaps he will have empathy on the idiot -- with zero expectations that the visit leads to little more than a few laughs about the destruction of the screen.

 

[djarchow]

I am worried about this too. My droid-x phone has Gorilla Glass 1 and is 2+ years old now. It has been dropped countless times, whacked on stuff, case dented even right by the glass and no issues. My wife had a Droid 2 with no issues and just got an iphone 5 and already has a chip in the corner of her screen with no drops at all.

It won't help you now but going forward look into SquareTrade cell phone insurance. We just got this for my wife's iPhone. The cost is around $100 for two years and there is a $50 deductible.

 

[gapost]

Ok good attitude! Yeah, maybe they will help you out if you have been a long-time user. It is a lesson for us all that we need to be careful and that gorilla glass is not the answer to indestructible phones. haha

 

[aaronscribner]

Ok good attitude! Yeah, maybe they will help you out if you have been a long-time user. It is a lesson for us all that we need to be careful and that gorilla glass is not the answer to indestructible phones. haha

Yup, that is the point of the post...get an Otter Box. My wife has a knack for being able to find the weakpoint of just about anything out there. I joked with her that she should become the tester and to put the gorillas into the wild.

In the whole scheme of things, it is a communication device, a material item that is fixable or replaceable. She is truly upset about it. Me, it just goes into the misc. expense household budget report.

I was going to pick up insurance if the deductible was $100 like it used to be. Now at $200 and a lmit of two repairs per insurance agreement, it is better to fix and get her the mega protective Otter Box (not the commuter series either [which I am purchasing for my 920 -- we both have the same phones and our account is on a very large enterprise account, ATT has always treated me great because of that]).

Most likely, she will have to switch to the iPhone while this is sent for repair. Ideally, I would like to take care of something same-day at the local ATT store and avoid shipping it to the repair facility.

 

[aaronscribner]

I am worried about this too. My droid-x phone has Gorilla Glass 1 and is 2+ years old now. It has been dropped countless times, whacked on stuff, case dented even right by the glass and no issues. My wife had a Droid 2 with no issues and just got an iphone 5 and already has a chip in the corner of her screen with no drops at all.

It won't help you now but going forward look into SquareTrade cell phone insurance. We just got this for my wife's iPhone. The cost is around $100 for two years and there is a $50 deductible.

Too many clumsy people I suppose lol. The deductible at Square Trade is now $99 per instance. $125 for two years though. Have you used their service to replace a phone? Do they actually replace it or just cover the repair costs?

 

[socialcarpet]

Really sorry to see that happened man...

But it is glass.

Gorilla glass is designed to be highly scratch resistant. NOT shatterproof. A fall from that height on any phone with a glass screen, will crack the screen if it hits the ground just right.

It's an unfortunate consequence of the fact that all our smartphones now use glass. In many ways I kind of miss the good old days when all phones had plastic screens. The screens weren't nearly as clear and sexy, but this was NEVER a problem then and you could always polish the scratches out if you need to.

For the life of me though, I don't understand why they can't make a virtually shatterproof phone screen by now. I wouldn't care if they made the Gorilla glass 2x as thick if it would achieve that.

 

[slashd0t]

Yeah if it drops just the right way, consider it broken regardless of the height..

Over the years I've seen people have their iPhones fly out of their hand like 6-7 feet (happened to me) and NOTHING, while other guys bend over to tie their shows and it shatters..

Sucks I know..

That said, in the years of me owning a smartphone, I haven't once broken the screen on mine.. (fingers crossed)

 

[Coreldan]

It landed on a corner, the weakest spot for these devices, gorilla glass or not. Landing in the right (or more like wrong) place means it shatters pretty much regardless of height, sadly.

I've never managed to shatter a screen personally, despite several drops. But then again I know many who only dropped theirs once and it was enough.

 

[jdhooghe]

The thing that people don't seem to understand is that this is not plastic. It is glass. No matter what kind of glass it is, it is still glass and will shatter given the right circumstances. ALL glass has weak points and structural defects. It is not a solid and does not have a well defined lattice.

 

[Karen Stanford]

I think there's something about the design of the 920 that is compromising the glass. I had a Lumia 900 that was dropped countless times and it never broke. Literally the very first day I took my Lumia 920 to work, it slipped off my lap in my car and slid down my leg - which I extended in order to prevent it from having too high a drop - and the glass shattered. I figured it was just one of those freak things, so I sent it off to get it repaired. Last weekend, the glass on my new screen shattered after it fell from waist height. Design elements that I think might be compromising the integrity are the slit at the top in the center of the glass - on the 900, it wasn't a complete hole - and also the curved nature of the glass, which I think brings the glass itself in contact with the surface it's dropped on. Love the phone - just hate how much the glass is breaking on it. I've only ever had the glass on a phone break 4 times total - and two have been with the 920, which I've only been using for about 2 1/2 months.:eck:

 

[BIGPADDY]

Only hope is with Samsung flexible SAMOLED display which would not shatter just absorb the impact a lot better then standard or gorilla glass :excited: