I don’t do drop tests. But sometimes I accidentally drop phones — and sadly, my Galaxy S21 had a meeting with concrete this weekend.
I have never done an intentional drop test, torture test, or stress test on a piece of technology. I have, on a few unfortunate occasions, done an unintentional drop test of a phone, however. This weekend was one such time, and it happened to be with my brand-new Galaxy S21 Ultra, which I’ve had for less than two weeks. Ouch. Trust me when I say it’s cold in Vermont in January. On Sunday, it was about 15 degrees Fahrenheit, with strong winds contributing to a sub-zero feel. I was bundled up in two jackets and gloves, and with those layers, it’s tough to know exactly where your phone is at any given time. I lost track of my phone for a split second, and it happened: A three-foot drop from my pocket to the ground. Hard, frozen concrete. Naturally, I didn’t have a case for my Galaxy S21 Ultra. I always use my review units case-free in the early days to evaluate the look and feel of the hardware. (There’s typically a shortage of case options when the phone has yet to hit retail availability as well.) As a result, there was damage: In all, it’s not nearly as bad as I expected when I heard the thwack of the phone hitting the pavement. With that much weight and two massive panes of glass, I fully expected a catastrophe.
