Weak gorilla glass

rabben · May 19, 2013

Cracked my gorilla glass today! A small crack across my entire screen, but the problem is that I was holding it upright on a table and it just flipped down and the crack appeared. I've had s2 and s3, both for one year, and dropped them down on pavements and floors with nothing happening to them! Anyone else experienced this?

Atma · May 19, 2013

Sorry about your glass rabben.

I haven't dropped mine. Hopefully I won't if its that fragile. I dropped my S2 a dozen times and never a problem. Ive seen some drop test with the S4 that didn't come out so good.

DanDroide · May 19, 2013

I saw the drop tests too.

That's why I ordered the Otterbox Defender...hopefully that will do the trick!

Droidunited · May 19, 2013

How far did you drop it? Also did it land on a sharp or pointy object? Gorilla Glass is really durable for phones but keep in mind it doesn't have the same durability as Metal or a diamond. Be careful with your phone and if you don't have a protective cover for it, you will want to invest in one.

Also, accidents do happen (as I have dropped my phone a few times) and I want to offer you a piece of advice. Every time I drop my phone I stick my foot out so that my shoe lessens the impact of the fall (this does require fast reflexes) I've dropped my S3 on my shoe about 3 times now, and not a scratch to this day. I hope you find this piece of advise useful, and remember be careful with your device.

chris2k5 · May 19, 2013

Droidunited said:
How far did you drop it? Also did it land on a sharp or pointy object? Gorilla Glass is really durable for phones but keep in mind it doesn't have the same durability as Metal or a diamond. Be careful with your phone and if you don't have a protective cover for it, you will want to invest in one.

Also, accidents do happen (as I have dropped my phone a few times) and I want to offer you a piece of advice. Every time I drop my phone I stick my foot out so that my shoe lessens the impact of the fall (this does require fast reflexes) I've dropped my S3 on my shoe about 3 times now, and not a scratch to this day. I hope you find this piece of advise useful, and remember be careful with your device.

LOL omg...I can see someone taking your advice:
They drop their phone and stick their foot out but then accidentally kick it into the street. Then a car comes driving by and runs right over it.

Droidunited · May 19, 2013

Thank you for pointing that possibility out. It really does take good reflexes. Perhaps it's better to practice dropping less valuable objects (like a banana) before using this skill on a mobile device

KOLIO · May 19, 2013

rabben said:
Cracked my gorilla glass today! A small crack across my entire screen, but the problem is that I was holding it upright on a table and it just flipped down and the crack appeared. I've had s2 and s3, both for one year, and dropped them down on pavements and floors with nothing happening to them! Anyone else experienced this?

Sorry to hear about the screen crack.Found this interesting & informative post from GOOGLE+ on the specs of GORILLA GLASS 3:

Shen Ye
Shared publicly - Apr 26, 2013
Just to clear up some speculation in regards to Gorilla Glass 3 vs. 2 using science and official specification documentation.

The difference in brittleness (correlated by Young's Modulus) between Gorilla Glass 2 and 3 is 71.5 and 69.3 GPa respectively. This is a 3% difference, and barely any difference. Just as a comparison: glass is usually around 50-90 GPa, mother of pearl is on average 70 GPa. (lower=more elastic, higher=more brittle)

The axial stress (aka Poisson's Ratio) is almost exactly the same, 0.21 to 0.22, which can easily be down to systematic and rounding errors.

The fracture toughness (how hard it is for a crack to elongate/propogate) actually decreased from 0.68 to 0.66 MPa m^0.5, so if you have a crack in your screen, it will spread 3% easier.

And finally, the hardness of the glass did not change. It is just as easy to scratch a Gorilla Glass 2 panel as it is to scratch a Gorilla Glass 3 panel.

tl;dr - There are very little differences between Gorilla Glass 2 and 3. It should not be a deciding factor when you are deciding which phone to buy.

Just a guess,but,I'm betting the larger the screen area,the more susceptible it is to fractures/cracking.

A phone case w/a lip to buffer the energy of an impact will likely prevent such damage.A screen protector will do as well.

Anyhoo,not knowing when/where you purchased your phone,I'd look at getting some sort of warranty service action started ASAP.

DanDroide · May 19, 2013

Droidunited said:
Thank you for pointing that possibility out. It really does take good reflexes. Perhaps it's better to practice dropping less valuable objects (like a banana) before using this skill on a mobile device

Years ago I worked in my family's Italian restaurant. One of our cooks dropped a small fish carving knife and he went to kick it to break the fall. NOT A GOOD IDEA IN THAT CIRCUMSTANCE! We had to take him to the Emergency Room to have the knife removed from his foot. [TRUE STORY]

But for a phone, or a banana, you should be okay.

jds4000 · May 19, 2013

Solution? On your next device purchase the Otterbox Defender, remove the cheap supplied screen protector and purchase Spigen Tempered Glass Screen Protector. Your next GS4 will be as snug as a bug. The GS4 has a display that has a hardness rating of 7/10. Spigen Tempered Glass has a hardness rating of 8-9/10. Get the point?

rabben · May 20, 2013

Droidunited said:
How far did you drop it? Also did it land on a sharp or pointy object? Gorilla Glass is really durable for phones but keep in mind it doesn't have the same durability as Metal or a diamond. Be careful with your phone and if you don't have a protective cover for it, you will want to invest in one.

Also, accidents do happen (as I have dropped my phone a few times) and I want to offer you a piece of advice. Every time I drop my phone I stick my foot out so that my shoe lessens the impact of the fall (this does require fast reflexes) I've dropped my S3 on my shoe about 3 times now, and not a scratch to this day. I hope you find this piece of advise useful, and remember be careful with your device.

I was leaning it on a flat surface in landscape position, and it fell down screen first, so it was not even a drop! Like a hatch closing really! Yes I will ASAP start guarantee discussions, as I believe there must have been a weakness in my particular handset :mad:

By the way I'm using a spigen slim armor on my phone, but no screen protector.

Gearu · May 20, 2013

My theory = I think the S4's screen is 'bound down' tighter than the S3 and 2's, so there is a bit of pressure in it, making it more susceptible to cracks.
Same goes for the frame? that people are getting cracks/breaks in, due to temperature changes I feel. If this is true and the trend continues and escalates in future S phones, Samsung will have rough years ahead.

rushmore · May 20, 2013

The S4 has more glass on an even thinner bezel, so will be significantly more prone to cracking than the S3. Gorilla glass is not as much a crack reducer, but a scratch reducer. A .2" diagonal increase may not seem like much but is going from 4.8" to 5". Less surface area with plastic to provide absorption from the kinetic energy from drops.

rushmore · May 20, 2013

Gearu said:
My theory = I think the S4's screen is 'bound down' tighter than the S3 and 2's, so there is a bit of pressure in it, making it more susceptible to cracks.
Same goes for the frame? that people are getting cracks/breaks in, due to temperature changes I feel. If this is true and the trend continues and escalates in future S phones, Samsung will have rough years ahead.

The key is probably the display itself is providing a lot the actual structure support due to less bezel and more glass. This means the kinetic energy gets displaced even more to the display. Since glass is the weakest structure as far as elasticity on the device- crack attack! :vollkommenauf:

Added: A case would be a good investment for the S4.

veccster · May 20, 2013

Droidunited said:
<snip> Every time I drop my phone I stick my foot out so that my shoe lessens the impact of the fall (this does require fast reflexes)

I do exactly this with lots of things - phones, cameras, toys....basically anything that can be dropped has hit my shoe at some point. Once you perfect this reflex, you can learn to catch the item with your shoe and flick it back into the air to snag and keep rolling like nothing even happened. :smokingsomb:

Turbodc2 · May 20, 2013

I cracked my galaxy s3 screen on a small drop. Had the phone replaced, and put it in a thin case and proceeded to have drops for the rest of the year with no ill effects. The weakest point is at the edges so if your are able to cover the edges, your chance of cracking the screen goes down dramatically.

Slug · May 20, 2013

jds4000 said:
The GS4 has a display that has a hardness rating of 7/10. Spigen Tempered Glass has a hardness rating of 8-9/10. Get the point?

Yup, the Glas.t is more scratch-resistant than the S4's screen. The surface hardness however has no influence on resistance to stress fractures a.k.a cracks.

lotus49 · May 21, 2013

What are you all doing with your phones, learning to juggle?

I have found that being careful is a very effective strategy.

elfy23 · May 21, 2013

Unfortunately dropped my s4 face down from a good 4 ft. Picked it up, and still a 10/10 condition screen

KupKrazy · May 21, 2013

LOL I don't think anyone is not being 'careful'. I mean - I am sure NO ONE here is trying to drop their phone, and they are called an "accident" for a reason. Actually, I think if you try being too careful, you end up being more susceptible to an accident. The case gives me peace of mind, I guess. I rarely drop my phones after having a case put on. but I don't have concerns about scratches and things of that sort when I put it on a rough surface either.

cybertec69 · May 21, 2013

rabben said:
Cracked my gorilla glass today! A small crack across my entire screen, but the problem is that I was holding it upright on a table and it just flipped down and the crack appeared. I've had s2 and s3, both for one year, and dropped them down on pavements and floors with nothing happening to them! Anyone else experienced this?

I suggest a TPU case next time, when you drop a device with a big GLASS screen it is bound to break, it is GLASS, Gorilla glass is scratch resistant "to a certain extend" not shatter proof.

Droidunited · Jul 23, 2013

DanDroide said:
Years ago I worked in my family's Italian restaurant. One of our cooks dropped a small fish carving knife and he went to kick it to break the fall. NOT A GOOD IDEA IN THAT CIRCUMSTANCE! We had to take him to the Emergency Room to have the knife removed from his foot. [TRUE STORY]

But for a phone, or a banana, you should be okay.

That's crazy. I would never try to prevent the fall of a knife! Even if it does land successfully, it's going to need to be sanitized after touching your shoe. Hopefully He has learned from this lesson and is no longer dropping sharp objects and catching them with his shoe.

As for me, I continue to drop my S3 and catch it with my shoe and have yet had a bad experience. However, I do understand that this is not an ideal resolution and the method should be used lightly and only during dire situations.

Goodspike · Jul 23, 2013

If you work around canned goods or produce, you're trained to kick at falling objects so that they don't dent or bruise. That probably explains a chef kicking at a knife. It was a reaction without thinking.

Droidunited · Jul 23, 2013

That makes sense. I guess having quick reflexes can sometimes backfire.

TheHoodedClaw · Jul 23, 2013

Goodspike said:
If you work around canned goods or produce, you're trained to kick at falling objects so that they don't dent or bruise. That probably explains a chef kicking at a knife. It was a reaction without thinking.

Exactly! As a teenager, I was a stocker in a drugstore, and we did that. The reflex is still there when I drop something decades later.

I've never put a screen protector on my phone, but I've decided to when I get my GS4. An influence was this article, which confirmed my instinct that a screen protector could give a little help to the glass in a drop.

Scratch Test: Does Your Phone Really Need A Screen Protector?

(And which I just realized I posted on another thread in this same forum earlier today....oh well)

bradyapba · Aug 8, 2013

i cracked my screen 2 weeks in. it dropped less than 2 inches on a flat, clean table surface. I was shocked. I dropped my Nexus many times over 2 years... once, running to my car in a rain storm, it fell out of my pocket, and i kicked it, about 20 feet, where it bounced, many times. Screen still didnt crack. And it was a naked phone.

While I know thats a rare occurance, I certainly dont think my s4 should of cracked on the tiny drop onto my dining room table. Something seems up with this glass to me.

Weak gorilla glass

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