Your next smartphone could be almost scratch-free
Corning Gorilla Glass Gets Its Biggest Update in 4 Years
Corning announces Gorilla Glass successor Victus
Can survive up to 6.5 feet drops
Twice as scratch resistant as the Gorilla Glass 6 and four times the resistance as a competing glass
Drop resistance has improved to 20, 1 meter drops, compared to 15 on the Gorilla Glass 6
Not “pocket-proof”
Samsung to be first OEM to utilize Victus in its flagships
Corning has announced the successor to its Gorilla Glass 6, called “Victus.” Victus has two major improvements. The first being that it can survive a 6.5 feet (2 meters) drop. The next, and greatest improvement, is it’s increased scratch resistance.
Although the Gorilla Glass 6 was a supposed improvement, Gorilla Glass 5 was really the last major update to the Gorilla Glass line-up. Victus now hopes to defy all odds and be the best smartphone glass. Corning has promised that the Victus’ drop resistance is a foot and a quarter higher than the Gorilla Glass 6 (6m or 5.25 feet). They also claim says repeated drop resistance has improved, surviving 20, 1-meter drops on average. Gorilla Glass 6 survived 15 drops from that height.
Corning claims that Victus has twice the scratch resistance on the Gorilla Glass 6 and four times the resistance of competing glass. A test smartphone dummy survived a 6.5 feet (2 meters) drop, further giving ground to the company’s claims.
A Knoop scratch test comparison. Courtesy: Corning
Corning’s VP and Gorilla Glass scientist Jaymin Amin does warn that Victus isn’t pocket-proof. Bits of dirt, sand, metal, and other materials that can get wedged in keys and coins could still cause a scratch. Amin says that “those caveats would still apply on any glass material... what this does for you is reduce those instances quite dramatically.” (Courtesy: Verge)
Conclusion:
It’s amazing that Corning has achieved such a feat with just 4 years of R&D and innovation. Corning’s continued innovation is what has kept it the market leader in smartphone glass. Victus seems like a promising new innovation. Gorilla Glass 6, although quite strong, didn’t manage to create as much hype as the Victus. The Victus’ monumental upgrades will surely woo the likes of major OEMs like Samsung and Apple. But, OEMs do seem to alter the glass a bit to fit their specific smartphones. It remains to see if Samsung and other major OEMs will replicate the laboratory test success achieved by Corning.