The Google Nexus 6P might be the weakest smartphone EVER

The Google Nexus 6P might be the weakest smartphone EVER

A BENDGATE scandal is brewing around the Huawei-built Nexus 6P smartphone

 

Google announced its Nexus 6P smartphone alongside a refreshed Nexus 5, updated Chromecast and new Chromecast Audio dongle last month.

The Huawei-built handset replaces the hefty plastic shell of its predecessor with a sleek all-metal design and stylish, diamond-cut edges.

Weighing in at 159.4mm x 77.8mm x 7.3mm, the Nexus 6P has the same pocket-straining footprint as its predecessor.

But a controversial new YouTube video has raised some questions over the £449 device's durability. 

In the new online video, Jerry Rig Everything puts the brand-new Nexus 6P through a series of increasingly strenuous tests to check its wear and tear and push the device to destruction.

 



YouTube star Jerry Rig Everything starts the video with a simple scratch test



 



But it is the bend test when things really start going downhill for the new Nexus 6P



The gadget-destroyer tests the strength of the Gorilla Glass 4 display, the aluminium back and the ability to withstand the dreaded bend test.

But the online video – which has been viewed some 650,000 times online – has been criticised for being unfair.

Viewers have questioned the credibility, pointing out that since the smartphone had already been subjected to heat and had a cracked screen, the Nexus 6P bent much easier than usual.

One Reddit user pointed out: "Can confirm, this is the reason right here. Cracked glass means that you no longer have a boxed structure – you’re effectively bending a flat sheet of aluminium now.

"In automotive and aerospace engineering, we call this a “body in white”, compared to a fully assembled vehicle. In a car, the front and rear windshield alone increase the stiffness of the frame by a factor of 2x. 

"This is why crash testing is done with a fully assembled car, rather than just the frame and restraint system."

The YouTube video shows the Nexus 6P almost splintering into two pieces.

YouTube star Jerry Rig Everything tells the cameraman, "my little sister could have bent this phone in half with her hands".

 

Earlier in the video, the YouTube creator is seen using nine different materials ranging across the Mohs scale of hardness on the display.

Anything over a rating of 6 or higher quickly tears into the Gorilla Glass display and causes irreparable damage.

In the next test, the video shows the effect of a set of keys against the anodised aluminium on the back panel metal.

The keys leave a handful of deeps grooves on the rear of the smartphone.

Worse still, tapping on the Nexus 6P after it has been subjected to the scratch tests triggers a large crack along the surface of the device.

 



The display soon detaches from the body of the smartphone





YouTube user Unbox Therapy easily managed to warp the iPhone 6 Plus last year



One YouTube commenter wrote: "Wanted this phone so badly, but this is actually quite disturbing; maybe the 5X is the best option after all."

"Fandroids laughing all over rare iPhone bends, and as soon as a real bending problems occurs on an android phone, fandroids mass-down-votes and yell like monkeys," another added.

But an increasing number of users are labelling the video as dishonest.

"No Hauwei logo so this is fake," one YouTube viewer blasted.

 

 

Another added: "This is a very dishonest video. The phone's screen was structurally compromised via cracking and heating before bending occurred. YOU sir are the joke!"

"I hope that Google and Huawei lawyers will submit a claim against this fake video and its creator JerryRigEverything," another viewer blasted the video.

"It's not OK, when someone lies like this. This sort of fakes should be punished."

NewsNewsBlog.blogspot.com will be putting the Google Nexus 6P to the test over the next few weeks and will test the strength of the device.

But for now, you're worried – why not check out the world's first shatter-proof smartphone?

• Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X are currently on sale from the online Google Store