Droid MAXX Dropped once... cracked screen!!

[akajacen]

I ran my droid over with a car. screen down and didn't get a scratch.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[CKwik240]

Drop any phone and it has the potential to break one way or another. Sometimes, nothing will occur. Really depends on how it lands. How many times one drops their phone is irrelevant. If it happens to land in a way that causes a stress level that exceeds any part of the phone's screen's ability to handle it, it will break.

That said, the use of stronger materials doesn't necessarily equate to having a more durable phone. Consider the demands of the typical consumer of the Maxx. We want a bigger screen, thin profile, big battery and perhaps light weight. Using a stronger material gives the engineer some flexibility to use less of the material and achieve the same overall durability as outgoing technology by using less of the material. This can reduce the weight and required size, while being able to stuff more into the phone. It would be hard not to ask an engineer working for any phone company not to come up with options that push the limits of those goals.

 

[LinuxWeather]

If consumers were willing to (1) pay for and (2) embrace durable phones there would be more options on the market. Let's be honest, there's a very small niche crowd that wants a bulky, heavy, non-sexy looking phone. OEMs are building what sells - edge to edge glass, shiny lightweight materials, and thin non-durable devices that have a EOL of 2-3yrs. That's where the case makers stepped in and you can buy cases to protect the phone. You can't have it both ways right now, its not economical for the OEM or the consumer.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Old Stoneface]

Hopefully, cracked and shattered screens will soon be a thing of the past: Your next smartphone might use sapphire glass instead of Gorilla Glass

 

[redddog]

Hopefully, cracked and shattered screens will soon be a thing of the past: Your next smartphone might use sapphire glass instead of Gorilla Glass

Just one question....Are we sure phone manufacturers are interested in building unbreakable phones?

 

[LinuxWeather]

Just one question....Are we sure phone manufacturers are interested in building unbreakable phones?

Exactly ... We've already seen them not update with new software that clearly isn't constrained by the hardware. But also consumers don't want to keep a phone 2yrs+ really anymore anyway so why build an unbreakable phone. Sure better glass, better bodies would be great and doable ... But why invest dev time and $$ into preventing a 5' drop from breaking it.

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[Old Stoneface]

Just one question....Are we sure phone manufacturers are interested in building unbreakable phones?

It looks like Apple may be: Apple clears final hurdle to bring sapphire-manufacturing plant to Arizona

 

[CrazyRussian007]

It looks like Apple may be: Apple clears final hurdle to bring sapphire-manufacturing plant to Arizona

But Apple's sapphire glass production is only for the home/fingerprint scanner button - not the screen

 

[jfriend33]

What about those thicker glass material screen protectors? I know that helped my friend who's a cop with a Galaxy s3.

Never go on long trips without the defender and belt clip. Day to day use an Incipio Feather case. Only go naked coincidentally in bed or on the couch!

Sent from my XT1080m using Tapatalk

 

[doogald]

But Apple's sapphire glass production is only for the home/fingerprint scanner button - not the screen

So far. It's also covers for the camera. But I wonder if this is really a play for the rumored watch? High end watches always come with sapphire crystals.

 

[Blade765]

I came across this thread while looking to see if anyone has suffered the same issue as me. Today I noticed something I've only seen one other time (on my wifes LG Voyager). The screen on my phone has shattered. There is NO damage to the phone, it was never dropped or anything, the screen just...broke.... It looks as if it did it from the inside of the phone. The Tier 2 VZW tech agreed with me that this is damage that I could not have caused, so I won't be charged the $250 damaged device fee.... My phone is almost completely unusable. It barely responds to touch, the screen is a garbled mess. But, again, I will say that it was NEVER dropped or exposed to water, or ANYTHING. It just broke....

 

[YAYTech]

I came across this thread while looking to see if anyone has suffered the same issue as me. Today I noticed something I've only seen one other time (on my wifes LG Voyager). The screen on my phone has shattered. There is NO damage to the phone, it was never dropped or anything, the screen just...broke.... It looks as if it did it from the inside of the phone. The Tier 2 VZW tech agreed with me that this is damage that I could not have caused, so I won't be charged the $250 damaged device fee.... My phone is almost completely unusable. It barely responds to touch, the screen is a garbled mess. But, again, I will say that it was NEVER dropped or exposed to water, or ANYTHING. It just broke....

These things happen (rarely, but they do). Sometimes it's hard to tell what the cause was (I'm not suggesting it was you.) Any large temperature changes, maybe?

 

[CKwik240]

I came across this thread while looking to see if anyone has suffered the same issue as me. Today I noticed something I've only seen one other time (on my wifes LG Voyager). The screen on my phone has shattered. There is NO damage to the phone, it was never dropped or anything, the screen just...broke.... It looks as if it did it from the inside of the phone. The Tier 2 VZW tech agreed with me that this is damage that I could not have caused, so I won't be charged the $250 damaged device fee.... My phone is almost completely unusable. It barely responds to touch, the screen is a garbled mess. But, again, I will say that it was NEVER dropped or exposed to water, or ANYTHING. It just broke....

Glass tends to be pretty brittle. It also tends to have a resonance frequency where it can experience brittle fracture. Example, you can take a piece of the ceramic off a spark plug and throw it at glass moderately hard and it will shatter it. My nephew threw a ping pong ball at his dad's plasma tv when he was two and cracked the screen as well. While I can't speak to gorilla glass specifically, I wouldn't rule out that it might have similar properties.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[silverback]

I came across this thread while looking to see if anyone has suffered the same issue as me. Today I noticed something I've only seen one other time (on my wifes LG Voyager). The screen on my phone has shattered. There is NO damage to the phone, it was never dropped or anything, the screen just...broke.... It looks as if it did it from the inside of the phone. The Tier 2 VZW tech agreed with me that this is damage that I could not have caused, so I won't be charged the $250 damaged device fee.... My phone is almost completely unusable. It barely responds to touch, the screen is a garbled mess. But, again, I will say that it was NEVER dropped or exposed to water, or ANYTHING. It just broke....

All the posts about brittle failure are somewhat accurate. However, I am taking a fatigue and damage tolerance course and learning about sustained stress loading on materials. I would guess, if no outside damage occurred, there was a small inclusion in the glass. A defect smaller than the eye can see during manufacturing. Then, when the glass was glued to the phone, it placed the glass in a slight amount of sustained stress. Couple this with the day to day dynamic loading of use, and a small inclusion becomes a huge stress riser that creates a microscopic crack. Due to the brittle nature of glass, the crack will propagate rapidly because the stress concentrates highly at the point of the crack.

That's my theory anyway.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[Mokib]

I know this is an older thread, but I must add my 92 cents for anyone else who might have the same problem, or who may be considering purchasing a Droid Maxx. Some older threads imply that this does not seem to be a problem inherent with the Droid Maxx, but as of this date, I must disagree: There are an inordinate amount threads on various sites discussing this issue and the number of people experiencing this weakness appears to be increasing.

I owned a Razr Maxx previous to purchasing the Droid Maxx. My decision to continue with the Maxx series was primarily due to my experience using the Razr and the promises from the makers of Gorilla Glass and Motorola: "Visually stunning, incredibly tough Corning? Gorilla? Glass enables today?s sleekest smartphone and tablet designs, while providing exceptional damage resistance to the bumps and scrapes of everyday use." Granted, their interpretation of "bumps" may be different than ours... what is the force of a 'bump' after all? Well...from Google definition: Noun: bump; 1. a light blow or a jolting collision. Verb: bump; 1. knock or run into someone or something, typically with a jolt. Regardless, I never had a case on my Razr, and I dropped it numerous times... even once from 12' off a roof onto asphalt - most definitely more than a 'bump'. The darn thing was tough as nails, making me a big fan of Gorilla Glass and the design of the RM.

Enter the Droid Maxx. My first mistake was making the assumption that I could trust Google and Motorola to continue the sturdy design of the Razr Maxx and provide the same quality, which was clearly touted as being tougher than phones that did not use GG. Before anyone chimes in: Rhetorically..should we drop our phones? Duh, no. More rhetorically: do we live in reality? Hooray for those few who 'never' drop their phones and live a perfect life. As for me, after having my phone only 8 days, I bent down to pick something off the ground at work and my Velcro pocket failed (too much lint, I suppose). My new phone fell about 20" (inches) onto the ground, shattering the glass. (No, I did not have a case, but then I never had one for my RM, either). Other postings have mentioned the design of the DM as the flaw that reduces the durability of this phone. The glass goes all the way to the edge, giving the most susceptible area of the glass almost complete exposure. Even so, at such a low impact, the glass should have remained intact based on the implied and stated "exceptional damage resistance." (Read the links I've provided).

For the record, The DM is supposed to have Gorilla Glass 3: DROID MAXX by Motorola | Products | CORNING® GORILLA® GLASS
And here's Corning's assurance on the properties of same: CORNING® GORILLA® GLASS | Gorilla Glass
And finally, Corning's press release for GG3: CORNING® GORILLA® GLASS | Corning Launches New Gorilla® Glass 3 with Native Damage Resistance™ Note an excerpt from this page: "With its new Native Damage Resistance?, Gorilla Glass 3 has been developed to provide improved durability to withstand deep scratches and cracks in the glass.

Yeah, right.

Read up on the promises of GG3. Then check out all the forums and reviews where people are complaining about this flaw. All the hype about the exceptional damage resistance of GG3 and the DM, and yet they are shattering all over the place.

I hope that eventually Motorola will admit to their design flaw. Until then, I and many others have paid a higher price to get a phone that is no better than any other in terms of durability. Now I have to spend another $175 to repair an issue that I purposely purchased this phone to avoid. Not happy at all.

 

[brandonx1000]

I'm sorry to hear you had a mishap with your phone, but not every instance can be accounted for. I've dropped my Ultra multiple times on my hardwood floor and tiled kitchen without so much as a scratch. A screen is at it's weakest at it's ends. Things like this happen. A case could have helped in this situation.

 

[JimBen73]

I've dropped mine a few times on tile floor with no scratches what so ever. Maybe I've been lucky

Posted via my awesome, longer lasting phone than yours aka droid MAXX

 

[perkdog65]

Dropped my MAXX three times just last week, I don't have a case, never liked them. All three times were on concrete and tile floor and well over 20" one was from about 4'. No scratches and certainly no broken glass. Sorry for you misfortune. It all comes down to luck and how the thing lands when it hits the ground. You can drop a phone from 20" fifty times and probably it would not land exactly the same any time, but it only takes one to find the weak spot. While Corning claims that GG3 is tough, they never claim that it is indestructible, nor would they. They simply claim that it is stronger than some other glass products and it is.

 

[doogald]

The rumor is that Apple may be using sapphire for phone screens at some point in the future. Hopefully that will be a thing for all high end devices going forward -sapphire should be a lot more resistant to breakage.

 

[vzwuser76]

The rumor is that Apple may be using sapphire for phone screens at some point in the future. Hopefully that will be a thing for all high end devices going forward -sapphire should be a lot more resistant to breakage.

From what I've heard, sapphire glass has a higher hardness rating. The problem is, the higher the hardness rating, the more brittle it is. It's harder to scratch, but again is more brittle. Something like a plastic would be least likely to crack or shatter, but is worse for scratches.

The key with being shatter proof or shatter resistant is the ability to absorb an impact or flexibility. But materials like that aren't scratch proof or scratch resistant. So until there's a breakthrough, it seems that there are two options. Either shatter resistance or scratch resistance. While some claim my phone has been dropped multiple times and never cracked, in the end, it's pure luck. The factors that determine if it cracks or not is weight of the object, types of material (type of glass and hardness rating), type of surface it's dropped on, height of the fall, angle of impact, and even temperature of the glass. That's a lot of factors, and is almost impossible to predict when it will crack. The drop test videos never seem to be consistent, which seem to corroborate this.