Samsung Galaxy S20 And S20 Ultra Drop Test Reveals A Shocking Fact About The Camera Module

Samsung gives its new Galaxy S20 smartphones better cameras, fresh colors, as well as the option for a screen as large as 6.9 inches with the S20 Ultra. But all the three phones share one curved glass design, which is the most vulnerable thing about them when it comes to drops.

With that in mind, CNET reporters have conducted a drop test to see how the S20 and S20 Ultra hold up to such a common accident and how their durabilities compare with each other.

Round 1: Drop from 0.9 meters

This is the typical height of a person’s pocket, also one of the most popular heights that we may drop the phone from.

In terms of the Galaxy S20, it was first dropped with the front faced down to test the screen’s durability. The phone first landed on one edge, then the other edge, then finally settled on the sidewalk with its camera facing up. The display survived quite unscathed, but the screen protector had a small scrape. Meanwhile, there were two big dents on the metal frame with the pink finish scraped off to expose the silver casing in the biggest dent.

The Galaxy S20 Ultra, on the other hand, was dropped on its back to test how the camera could survive. The device hit the ground with its back, flipped in the air then settled with the screen facing up. It appeared that the display didn’t have a scratch, but its back was broken.

Two of its corners were shattered and there was a hairline fracture that ran from top to bottom. The top left corner, which is the closest to the camera module, was the only one that did not break. Meanwhile, the camera module remained intact, showing only two really small dents and it worked fine.

Round 2: Drop from 0.9 meters, but on the other side

This time, the Galaxy S20 was dropped with its back facing down and the Galaxy S20 Ultra dropped with its front facing down.

The S20 first hit the ground with its back, but then flipped and finally landed with its front down. This time, the backside was broken and the top of the phone was damaged the most due to hitting the ground first. There were cracks running along the phone’s edge where it meets the frame, some pieces of glass even fell out. The metal frame and the camera’s frame had some scuff marks. There was also a small, circular crack at the corner bottom-left.

While the Galaxy S20 Ultra settled on its front as intended, its bottom-left corner hit the ground first and took the biggest impact. The glass covering that corner shattered but the damage didn’t spread wide. Besides, the metal frame was beaten up a lot and dented at the corner.

Round 3: Drop from 1.5 meters

To this round, both the phones were already broken but the camera module on the S20 Ultra stilled worked fine and the screen of the S20 was still intact. So this is the ultimate round to see how far they can go.

This time, the Galaxy S20 was dropped screen-side-down, it landed almost flat, then flipped over. The screen wasn’t fine anymore, it was shattered while the back of the phone was further broken, generating a waterfall of broken glass that ran down the side of the device. The biggest damage was at the bottom with loose shards as well as a hole exposing the OLED display under the protector. There was also a large fracture that expanded from the bottom of the phone to the middle. This is enough testing for the S20.

On the other hand, the Galaxy S20 Ultra was also much broken, except for the camera module, so the reporters decided to drop the smartphone again from 1.5 meters high with its camera facing down. But this time, the phone didn’t land the way it was intended to, so the reporters tried again. And once again, it landed on the side instead of the back, so the reporters dropped it for the third time.

Finally, the handset landed almost flat on its back. The previous cracks all continued to grow while the edges of the back were shattered completely. But the most shocking thing was that the camera module still remained unscathed, after five drops, three of which from 1.5 meters high. However, by taking a closer look, it was noted that there were some specks in the wide-angle lens but hardly visible.

In the camera app testing, it appeared that there were some autofocus problems but other than that, the camera module worked fine.

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