Corning unveiled Gorilla Glass Victus 2 this week, a sequel to 2020’s Victus (and last year’s Victus+). The goal of this generation was to improve drop performance, i.e. to increase the chance that the glass is good after dropping the phone. Rough surfaces like asphalt and especially concrete were the main challenge.
We got to chat with Scott Forester, division vice president and business manager, Glass & Operations Council at Corning, about what it takes to make toughened glass. It turns out that “tough” is a mobile target because phones themselves are changing.
Modern glass is predicted to survive drops of 2 million (Image credit: Corning)
Smartphones have gotten an average of 15% heavier and 10% larger over the past four years. The weight and size determine the force of the impact when the phone is dropped and how that force is distributed through the glass of the display and the body of the phone.
Size is dictated by market demand, phones with larger screens sell better than compact devices. Big, thin phones tend to flex a lot, which can spell disaster for the glass that protects the front and very often the back as well.
Testing Victus 2 glass dropping on 80-grit sandpaper (simulating concrete)
The extra weight is partly a consequence of having a larger phone. That’s not all, bigger batteries weigh more too. Also, manufacturers have switched from plastic to aluminum and even steel for the phone frame, both of which are heavier than plastic (especially steel).
It’s not that bad though, the metal creates a stiffer frame, which can reduce the stress on the glass when the phone hits the ground. Corning works with manufacturers to optimize a phone’s internal construction to make it more durable. You can watch this video from a few years ago that demonstrates the importance of holding glass correctly.
Sometimes the company even takes users’ broken phones and examines them closely to figure out what caused the glass to break—that knowledge goes on to make the next generation better. What the team found is that rough surfaces are responsible for most of the time screen shattering, concrete and asphalt are the most common rough surfaces users encounter in their daily lives.
Concrete and asphalt are the most common rough surfaces (Image credit: Corning)
Big phones aren’t the only trend, curved displays are also quite popular. We asked if they’re more vulnerable — apparently, it doesn’t make much difference whether the impact is on the front of the phone or the curved side. Again, a well-designed, rigid frame can go a long way in saving glass.
There is another link between smartphone batteries and glass. Corning wants to keep the reflectivity low to avoid glare: if ambient light is flooding the display, the immediate solution is to increase the brightness. But that wastes energy, which isn’t good for battery life or glass either, as that could mean bigger and heavier batteries.
We also asked about screen protectors. Corning isn’t against them, but Forester tells us phones with Gorilla Glass are designed to survive without added protection, so protectors aren’t a must.
This will be especially true for phones that will arrive in the next few months thanks to the increased survivability of Gorilla Glass Victus 2. Which phones exactly we don’t know yet, unofficially. But you can make an educated guess using Phone Finder.
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