Watch the iPhone SE and 6S go head-to-head in durability tests
We know that Apple's iPhone SE has the guts of an iPhone 6S with the body of an iPhone 5S, but which one holds up better against the elements?
Phone warranty company SquareTrade put the SE through a series of tests to see how well it fares when dropped on the ground and dunked underwater.
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While the iPhone SE can stand toe-to-toe with the 6S performance-wise, it falls to its predecessor in durability tests.
The first test, as shown in the video above, put the iPhones (an iPhone SE, 6 and 6S) in a deep-water dunk test. The 6S lasted a half hour and only lost audio, while the 6S Plus died around 10 minutes. The SE bricked in less than a minute. Not a good start for the iPhone SE.
After taking a tumble through a rotating cube, the iPhone 6S came out unscathed and the SE only had minor damage on the corners. The larger 6S Plus's screen shattered.
Whether being dropped on its face or on a corner, the iPhone SE suffered major screen damage on its first fall
If you plan on dropping your iPhone SE from six-feet up, you might want to reconsider. Whether being dropped on its face or on a corner, the iPhone SE suffered major screen damage on its first fall, and the screen began separating after being dropped on its corner 10 times. The iPhone 6s and 6S Plus both had similar screen damage when being dropped on their faces, but only had cosmetic damage on their corners even after being dropped 10 times.
It turns out that the iPhone SE bends just as easily as it shatters too. In a single-point bend test, the SE bent at 160 pounds of pressure, while the 6S and 6S Plus lasted until 170 and 180 pounds, respectively. The iPhone SE was completely unusable at 178 pounds of pressure.
It's also not as durable as the Samsung Galaxy S7, which came out as the champion over the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus in a previous SquareTrade test.
Although the iPhone SE looks more like a brick and has less glass than the other smartphones, it sure doesn't act like one, if SquareTrade's durability tests are any indication. So if you're looking to do some intense hiking or other activities with your SE, be sure to put a case on it.
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