The Asus ROG Phone 5 is one of the most powerful phones you can buy today, but all the achievements are not cheap. You have to shell out more than $ 1000 to get one, which makes durability so much more important. Asus did not like to make its design as big and thick as needed to fit a Snapdragon 888, 16 GB RAM and dual 3000 mAh batteries on each side of the phone. Unfortunately, if you think a cell phone as bulky as the ROG Phone 5 would hold up properly in a durability chair test, you need to help yourself.
Zack’s video by JerryRigEverything starts well enough, with the Gorilla Glass Victus from the ROG Phone 5 picking up the expected scratches at a Mohs hardness level of 6. The metal edges of the phone manage to get a few extra scratches from Zack’s picking up pocket knives, but overall, the phone seems to survive the usual glove, just as you would expect.
It is only with the bending test that everything sours. With the first turn, the phone passes along the antenna line built into the chassis. Although things are still functional at this stage, the haptic module in the ROG Phone 5 does get damaged and leaves a hissing sound rather than the usual vibration. A second turn from the front breaks the screen for good, though the Victus glass that covers it manages to hold strong. A final twist finds another weak point next to the USB-C port on the side, which shatters the rear glass and kills the handset forever.
All in all, this is not what you want to see from any phone, let alone a $ 1,200 mammal. Watch the video via the embed below for the full explanation.
