While we spent all weekend reviewing the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, plenty of YouTube users went looking for the most creative way to destroy theirs. An Infohut test proved that the new devices can survive being submerged in water, soda and even hot coffee with no ill effects inside, with the tester going so far as to crack open the phone after the test to prove no liquid got inside. Another video from So Bad So Good dunked the iPhone 7 in the ocean and proved the device could even continue recording video while briefly submerged just below the surface. EverythingApplePro took it one step further, finding the iPhone 7 finally starts to fail after being 35 feet underwater.
A test run by JerryRigEverything focused on scratch resistance, finding that keys and coins wouldn’t scratch the screen, back, camera lens, or Home button of an iPhone 7 with matte black finish. But a further test of the camera lens showed it scratched at a level 6 on the Mohs Scale—the same as glass—where Apple claims its Sapphire crystal lens cover should withstand much more punishment, surviving up to level 9. 9to5Mac has reached out to Apple for comment on the apparent discrepancy but hasn’t heard back. The same video shows the iPhone 7 is much less bendable than the iPhone 6 and can withstand direct contact with a flame on its screen for 10 seconds before the pixels overheat and shut off. After a few seconds the pixels cool off and resume normal function, unlike those of the Samsung devices, which go white and lose functionality forever. And in one final ridiculously over-the-top test, EverythingApplePro pitched an iPhone 7 out of a helicopter white it was recording video. The phone landed on soft grass rather than concrete, but it did survive the fall with only a cracked screen and kept recording the entire time.