Don’t take this wrong. I know, Corning’s Gorilla Glass is a godsend. But with each new generation of Gorilla Glass, we have to choose between improved durability against drops or scratches. Corning doesn’t and can’t excel in both areas. If a glass formula is hard enough to resist scratches, it becomes more brittle and susceptible to breaking when dropped. Don’t believe me? Gorilla Glass 3 was touted as showing 40% fewer scratches than Gorilla Glass 2. One round later, on its fourth-gen glass, Corning said Gorilla Glass 4 was twice as strong when it came to surviving drops. It’s just physics. But that changes now.
The newest Gorilla Glass formula, Gorilla Glass Victus, will offer a significant improvement in both drop and scratch performance. Compared to Gorilla Glass 6, Corning says Gorilla Glass Victus is two times more scratch-resistant and 25% stronger when it comes to drops. According to Corning, Gorilla Glass Victus can withstand drops from 6.5 feet compared to Gorilla Glass 6 which is rated to handle drops of up to 5.25 feet. According to Corning:
“Gorilla Glass Victus significantly improves both drop and scratch performance for the first time ever in the Gorilla Glass family, addressing consumer demand for improved durability.”
All that remains now is to wait to see if Corning can live up to its claims.
Additional information
Official Corning press release
Corning Introduces Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus™, The Toughest Gorilla Glass Yet, For Mobile Consumer Electronics
CORNING, N.Y. | Corning Incorporated | July 23, 2020
Gorilla Glass Victus significantly improves both drop and scratch performance for the first time ever in the Gorilla Glass family, addressing consumer demand for improved durability
Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) today introduced its latest breakthrough in glass technology, Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus™. Built on more than a decade-long legacy of delivering tough glasses for smartphones, laptops, tablets, and wearables, Gorilla Glass Victus provides consumers and OEMs with significantly better drop and scratch performance compared to competitive aluminosilicate glasses from other manufacturers.“Corning’s extensive consumer research has shown that improved drop and scratch performance are key components of consumer purchasing decisions,” said John Bayne, senior vice president and general manager, Mobile Consumer Electronics.
In three of the largest smartphone markets in the world – China, India, and the United States – durability is one of the most important purchase considerations for smartphones, second only to the device brand. When tested against features such as screen size, camera quality, and device thinness, durability was twice as important, and consumers were willing to pay a premium for improved durability. Additionally, Corning has analyzed feedback from more than 90,000 consumers indicating that the importance of drop and scratch performance has nearly doubled in seven years.
“Dropped phones can result in broken phones, but as we developed better glasses, phones survived more drops but also showed more visible scratches, which can impact the usability of devices,” Bayne said. “Instead of our historic approach of asking our technologists to focus on a single goal – making the glass better for either drop or scratch – we asked them to focus on improving both drop and scratch, and they delivered with Gorilla Glass Victus.”
In lab tests, Gorilla Glass Victus achieved drop performance up to 2 meters when dropped onto hard, rough surfaces. Competitive aluminosilicate glasses from other manufacturers typically fail when dropped from less than 0.8 meters. Gorilla Glass Victus also surpasses Corning® Gorilla® Glass 6 with up to a 2x improvement in scratch resistance. Additionally, the scratch resistance of Gorilla Glass Victus is up to 4x better than competitive aluminosilicate glasses.
Gorilla Glass has been designed into more than 8 billion devices by more than 45 major brands. Through the company’s Mobile Consumer Electronics (MCE) Market-Access Platform, Corning continues its legacy of innovation with its market-leading cover glasses as well as glass and optics for semiconductor products that enhance performance, deliver new connectivity features, enable new designs, and support immersive user experiences with augmented reality and 3D sensing.
Samsung will be the first customer to adopt Gorilla Glass Victus in the near future.
