JerryRigEverything’s Zack Nelson is known for his gadget durability testing and disassembly, so it’s no surprise to hear that he has a history of trying to break Xiaomi phones. This record brings the obvious trends: cheaper phones are not as durable as mid-range phones. So, how will the Mi 11 fare? It’s not that bad, for the sake of brevity.
For the hotness we do with these new phones, industrial design hasn’t fundamentally changed over the years, nor have Nelson’s exams. You can take a look at the video above or scroll down to see the conclusions if you don’t have time.
- The phone, in its TrimsGlass variants, is supplied with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus and a frosted glass panel attached along with a metal chassis. The rear cameras are protected with clear glass, probably more Victus.
- As with almost all other types of glass, the glass on the screen scratches around level 6 of the Mohs mineral hardness scale. Do not rub sand on it.
- Nelson placed the flame from the lighter on the OLED display for 20 seconds before pulling it back. At that time, the burned diodes were able to recover somewhat, but were clearly damaged in addition to being able to return to normal.
- For the curvature test, the phone creaked slightly, but if there was any damage, it was certainly not visible.
The money gap in construction quality seems to be in replicating this “premium” look on budget devices leads to some structural compromises. It kind of makes us miss smarter polycarbonate designs like the Pocophone F1, a brand from Xiaomi.
