Google Pixel 4 XL Was Bent And This Is What Happened

Dhir Acharya - Nov 07, 2019

A tech reviewer on YouTube took a Pixel 4 XL and bent it as hard as he could. The phone ended up breaking in certain places, though the screen survived.

A reviewer has found that the newly-launched Google Pixel 4 XL likely snaps when it’s bent. The reviewer in question is Jerry Rig Everything, who went on his YouTube channel and managed to break the new flagship in four places, though the back panel and the screen survived.

In his video posted on Tuesday, the tech reviewer said that it was fine to bend the 4 XL from the back. The phone screen kept the whole device’s structure solid, showing no cracks nor kinks in its frame. However, when bending the smartphone from the front, you can hear a loud pop, according to the YouTuber.

The first true crack appeared on the side of the handset, right under the square camera module and above the power button. The reviewer kept bending the phone to find out if any other thing would break.

In the video, he said that as the bending continued, there was another crack on the other side of the phone, above the SIM slot. Now, the Google Pixel 4 XL was snapped in two places. Then, Jerry Rig Everything continued to bend the device and found another two cracks on the phone’s bottom frame.

According to the clip, the cracks appeared because of how Google places the antenna. In particular, the plastic antenna line is covered by paint on the frame, causing weak points vulnerable to cracks all around the device.

Google did not respond immediately to a comment request.

Last month, the search giant announced the Pixel 4 lineup, including the standard Google Pixel 4 and the larger Pixel 4 XL smartphones on October 15, which was then released in the US market on October 24.