Aftermarket warranty company, SquareTrade, published a video to their YouTube channel this morning putting the latest iPhone SE to various stress tests, versus the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.
While we’ve seen other iPhone SE drop and water tests, SquareTrade’s tests are performed in controlled environments for more accurate results.
All three devices were put to a water dunking test, thrown inside a tumble bot (like a clothes dryer), dropped onto sidewalks and put to a bend test.
For the water test, the iPhone SE lost audio immediately in five feet of water and lost all power in under a minute, calling it the “least water resistant iPhone by far,” compared to the iPhone 6s which lost audio in 30 minutes. iFixit revealed last week the iPhone SE has waterproof seals for some parts, but not all.
As for the the 30 second tumble test, the iPhone SE suffered minor scuffing in 30 seconds on its corners, while the iPhone 6s emerged “unscathed”, but the iPhone 6s Plus had its screen smashed in the corner.
For sidewalk drop tests, the iPhone SE’s glass display unsurprisingly did not survive a face-down fall from six feet high, like its older siblings the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. For corner drop tests, the iPhone SE took five drops to separate its display from the body, while it took the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus at least 10 drops to do the same.
SquareTrade’s bend test saw the iPhone SE falter at 160 pounds of pressure, while the iPhone 6s started to bend at 170 pounds and iPhone 6s Plus at 180 pounds.
The company concluded the iPhone SE has a 5.5 score of ‘Medium Risk’ (higher is worse), while the iPhone 6s has a risk score of 4.0, and iPhone 6s Plus at 6.5. SquareTrade says the “new iPhone SE still has some growing up to do before it can compete with the durable iPhone 6s.”
Check out SquareTrade’s video below:
Last year, SquareTrade concluded Apple had solved its so-called “bendgate” problem as tests concluded the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus were able to withstand more pressure than its predecessors and competitors.
