iPhone 17 Pro Max’s Aluminum Build Holds Up Well To Drops Against Galaxy S25 Ultra’s Titanium Alloy, But Is Susceptible To Corner Impacts

iPhone 17 Pro Max’s Aluminum Build Holds Up Well To Drops Against Galaxy S25 Ultra’s Titanium Alloy, But Is Susceptible To Corner Impacts

iPhone 17 Pro Max’s Aluminum Build Holds Up Well To Drops Against Galaxy S25 Ultra’s Titanium Alloy, But Is Susceptible To Corner Impacts The iPhone 17 Pro Max drop test is finally here.

Head-to-head against the Galaxy S25Ultra. This year, Apple has made some really big improvements with the 17 Pro. Not only has it gotten an aluminum unibody, which means

there’s a bit of glass on the back to begin with, but the part that’s still glass now uses Ceramic Shield, which Apple says is four times stronger. On top of that, the front glass is even tougher than before with Ceramic Shield 2,

which Apple says provides three times better scratch resistance. Of course, the Galaxy has some advantages of its own. It has Corning’s Gorilla Armor on the front,

and unlike Apple, it’s still using titanium instead of aluminum while also being 15g lighter.

Or will that be enough to beat the iPhone?

Or will Apple’s durability claims prove true?

Let’s find out. This episode is sponsored by ESR, which sent its new CyberTec case with its ArmoritePro screen protector, which is actually

made with device glass from Corning, or the same company that makes the glass for the iPhone itself,

. Now, this case is built like a tank. ESR rates it for drop protection up to 23 feet, and that’s thanks to its dual-layer design where you get a hard shell for structure and a soft inner shell to help absorb impact.

And combined with the raised lip on the front over the camera, full button coverage and even a dust flap for the USB-C 7 Pro gives you a Max A port. What’s cool is that these zinc alloy guards also double as kickstands.

It works in both landscape and portrait with the MaxSafe magnets here and it’s also twice as strong as most cases, so your attachments will stay nice and secure.

Now, to go with the case, ESR says that not only is their new screen protector 10 times stronger than the regular one, while also offering two times better scratch resistance, but it’s also super easy to install with their two-step tray system.

And yes, in our drop tests on the back, corners, and face, the combo helped the iPhone survive without a hitch. Meaning, a screen protector is needed.

It’s changing, but the phone below is perfect. ESR also has this Classic Clear case if you want something a little slimmer while still getting 11 feet of drop protection. So, I’ll put all the links and information you need down below. Okay,

Before we start dropping these phones, we need to fix two major issues that we’ve had with our drop tests in the past. The first is with our mounting system.

So, even though we used bubble levels, they weren’t perfect. So, we spent weeks designing and testing our own custom.

Mounting system that allows us to rig devices with just a lot of precision. And then the second issue is with this concrete paver where technically every time we put the phone on it, it smoothed out the PA a little bit, which weakened the surface.

Over time. Now, you’d think that just changing the paper would fix this, but since every paper is slightly different, that would make any cross-comparisons that we’ve done inconsistent.

So, to truly fix the problem, we’re going back to sandpaper. This is the kind of surface that Corning itself uses in its own lab testing where we can easily swap out a fresh sheet while maintaining consistency while doing so.

A great combination, giving us the best possible match to a real-world surface. So, with that in mind, let’s get to the 1 meter background first.

Music

Okay, so you could see it in this slo-mo footage. The iPhone’s back glass does break, but at least compared to the Galaxy, it’s not that bad.

Now, part of that has to do with the fact that there’s just less glass to break to begin with, but part of that could also be due to the additional structural shrinkage that the aluminum unibody is providing. Whereas on the Galaxy, not only is the glass broken, but it also looks like the glass near the telephoto camera is slipping a little bit.

And if you look closely at the camera system, unfortunately there’s a crack in that laser autofocus as well as both

telephoto cameras. Now, the good news is that it doesn’t affect the functionality of the Galaxy after our 15-point inspection, but it’s a clear win for the iPhone in round one. Round two, 1-meter corner drop.

Two, one.

So, the good news is that both phones are still fully functional, but the bad news, at least for the iPhone, is that the aluminum doesn’t look good at all. Not only is it really bad, but it’s also dented. Like, I don’t think I’ve ever seen damage like that before. Itmight