IPhone 12 Mini Drop Test: The ceramic shield looks indestructible

The IPhone 12 Mini Tough phone to crack. We are Already tested the drop 6.1-inch The iPhone 12, but we decided to do it again with the 5.4-inch iPhone 12 Mini to see if the smaller phone would give different results. Basically, we wanted to see if we could break the screen. Spoiler: We didn’t, but we were able to break other things down in the process. Cover in Apple’s new ceramic shield glass, In our drop test the iPhone 12 mini screen proved to be virtually indestructible. It is much better at handling repeated drops than big-screen siblings.

Although it looks similar to ordinary glass to the eye, the Ceramic shield on iPhone 12 Mini, IPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and IPhone 12 Pro Max Not ordinary glass. It is glass filled with ceramic crystals and according to Apple, it is The hardest glass ever on a smartphone. Since our test methods are not scientific, we are not sure if that statement is true, but our experience with the iPhone 12 indicates that it has the hardest screen on any phone we have ever tested. The 6.1-inch screen in our iPhone 12 virtually escaped after falling seven times on concrete at various heights. The back of the phone, however, was made of the previous generation glass and we were able to crack it in a second drop.

The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini share the same Corning-Made Glass and Aluminum Frame (the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max have stainless steel), so we do not expect very different results, but we do know that it affects smaller and lighter phone results.

In general, Corning says large devices are more likely to bend than smaller ones, and heavy phones can see high power under impact, but they also do not ect performance during a fall event, because design is also a component that plays an important role.

CNET senior video producer Chris Parker dropped a product Red iPhone 12 Mini on the trail for our test.

Playing now:
See it:

The iPhone 12 Mini is tough to crack

10:49

Read more: CNET’s reviews are here IPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, IPhone 12 Mini And IPhone 12 Pro Max.

1: 3 feet, drop down towards the screen

This is the distance from your pocket to the ground and is one of the most common heights at which you can drop your phone. If the ground is hard, as in the case of sidewalks, this drop can be fatal to your phone screen.

The iPhone 12 Mini hit the ground at a slight angle and bounced before it settled, even though Chris dropped it down the screen side. After wiping some dust off the sidewalk, the screen looked new. However, the metal frame did not look so good. It has a large scratch in the upper right corner, which is rubbed with red paint where it landed, exposing the metal at the bottom. The lower part of the frame suffered the same visible damage and also had some minor dents. The difference between the phone’s bright red and aluminum made the damage to the frame more noticeable than what we experienced on our mint green iPhone 12. This is a trend we continue to see throughout our drop test.

2: 3 feet, drop back and forth

Chris repeated the same drop, but this time the ground was opposite the back of the phone. This is the drop that cracked the back of the iPhone 12 in our previous drop test, but the mini is much better.

The phone hit a slight angle again, but this time the phone first hit the ground, and then pivoted to the opposite side, causing it to bounce back into the air and then crash back into the downside.

The aluminum frame was badly damaged and there were dents in the upper right corner of the phone above the camera. But the back of the phone (and the screen itself) still seemed to be in perfect condition.

3: 6 feet, 6 inches, drop down towards the screen

Although you are less likely to drop your phone from this height, it is still within range if you take a picture (or even a selfie for tall people) from this height.

Again, the mini screen landed on the side, but it was not completely flat. The top of the phone is touched first, causing it to take flight again and complete the 360 ​​degree flip.

The screen pops out again, but there are more dents in the frame around it. One of the dents in the aluminum frame seemed to almost penetrate into the glass where the two met, and I was afraid it would compromise the screen going forward.

4: 6 feet, 6 inches, drop back and forth

Next we will mirror the drop on the back of the phone.

This time the back of the phone was almost flat on the ground, but the effect was that it bounced back and flipped over, instead of landing on the opposite side of the screen.

The rear glass is still intact, but both camera lenses are damaged. While the ultra-wide camera has visible cracks on the side, the frame and lens on the main rear camera have some minor dents. No cracks were visible through the viewfinder when we opened the camera app, but the lens could cause burns and break over time.

5 and 6: 9 feet, drop down towards the screen

Since both the front and rear glass on the iPhone 12 Mini are still intact, we decided to increase the stake and take the phone to nine feet. Chris had to drop them off a staircase, and it was hard to get them flat as intended.

The first drop is a wash because the screen is not in contact with the floor. The phone landed on top of the metal frame and bounced around a bit, so we tried again.

The second time it landed with the screen facing the ground, turned the middle air and finally finished the screen side up. At this point the metal frame looked like a battlefield, but the screen was totally cool.

The dent on the right side of the frame continued to grow, but the ceramic shield screen popped out again.

7: 9 feet, drop back and forth

We repeated this drop on the back of the phone facing the floor, but from the high level of that drop it was not kept after the initial impact and made several flips in the air before landing back against the floor.

This drop eventually caused some damage to the back of the phone. It has three hair follicles that start in the lower right corner: two short and one long one extending almost to the upper right corner along the frame.

Let’s break it down

Based on our drop tests of the iPhone 12 and now the iPhone 12 Mini, the ceramic shield is the strongest part of these phones. The lens and the back of the iPhone 12 Mini were cracked during our drop tests, but the trail did not match the screen, covered in ceramic armor, falling from successive heights respectively.

You may still want to keep at least a slim case on the phone to protect the camera and keep the frame looking new. At the very least, that’s what Apple suggested when we shared the results.

“The iPhone 12 models have gone through rigorous real-world testing and are durable, but not unreliable. If anyone is worried about dropping their iPhone and damaging it, we suggest using one of the most beautiful cases available to protect the iPhone.”