It's hard to work out how widespread the 'BendGate' problem is, as has Apple claimed it only received a small amount of complaints about bent iPhones.
And perhaps the iPhone isn't as bendy as everyone is thinking, as Consumer Reports (an independent technology testing lab in the US) has set out to test just how susceptible the new iPhones, along with their competitors, are to being bent, and the results are surprising.
In a new video Consumer Reports put the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, along with the iPhone 5, LG G3, Samsung Galaxy Note 3, and HTC One (M8) through a "three-point flexural test".
This test involved each phone being supported at two points on either end of the body, with force being applied to a third point in the middle.
This test is similar to the one that Apple uses to test its products, with reports indicating that the Cupertino company uses 25 kilograms of force to test iPhones. Consumer Reports, however, went much further.
Surprising results
Consumer Reports started at 25kg of force, then increased the force applied in increments of 4.5kg, stopping only when the screen came apart from the case.
The results were pretty surprising. Although BendGate has been fixated on the iPhone 6 Plus, the larger iPhone actually proved more resilient to the force.
It began to bend at around 40kg of strain, with it coming apart under 50kg. This put it ahead of both the HTC One (M8), which began bending at 32kg, and breaking apart under 41kg, and the iPhone 6 which again began bending under 32kg, and breaking at 45kg.
Whilst the iPhone 6 Plus proved to be more resilient than many assumed, it still fell short of both the LG G3 and Galaxy Note 3.
The LG G3 began bending under 59kg of pressure, whilst the Note 3 began bending under 68kg. Impressively, unlike the new iPhones, both the LG and the Samsung recovered completely after each step up in force.
The iPhone 5 also proved less prone to bending than its successors, being able to withstand 59kg of pressure before bending.
As Consumer Reports found out, BendGate might not be as clear cut as first thought, and whilst the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus aren't the most durable smartphones on the market, they're more robust than some have been suggesting.
Via 9to5Mac
