Corning’s new Gorilla Glass 5 protects smartphone devices from everyday drops

Corning Incorporated has unveiled last July 20 the Corning Gorilla Glass 5, the latest breakthrough technology to protect the cover glass of smartphone devices from the risk of breaking whenever it is dropped.

According to Corning’s news releases, their new cover glass is designed to survive breakages from everyday drops. Lab tests show that the Gorilla Glass 5 can survive being dropped on rough and unforgiving surfaces, four times better than competing glass designs.

“With each successive generation of Corning Gorilla Glass, we have taken cover glass technology to new levels,” said John Bayne, vice president and general manager, Corning Gorilla Glass. “Gorilla Glass 5 is no exception, extending Corning’s advantage in drop performance over competitive glasses.”

Bayne also said that it is important for the company to improve the drop performance of their cover glass, considering a lot of the smartphones are being dropped between waist and shoulder height. The Recent global study shows that 60 percent of smartphone owners reported dropping their phones between shoulder and waist height. The study also shows that over 85 percent of smartphone owners drop their phones at least once per year, while 55 percent drop their phones three times or more.

Corning says that tests show the Gorilla Glass 5 can survive up to 80 percent of the time when it is dropped face-down at a height of 1.6 metres onto rough surfaces. This rate outperforms competing glass designs.

The Verge notes, though, that Corning achieves the 80 percent survival rate at pieces of glass that were 0.6mm thick. But the company now makes cover glass as thin as 0.4mm, which would have a different result when it is dropped face-down at the same height on a rough surface than its thicker counterpart.

It is also noted that Corning’s test drops are done face-down, meaning the smartphones are dropped flat on their faces and not onto its corners or edge. Bayne’s said that the survival of the glass from corner drops depends also on the overall design of the phone and not just the toughness of the cover glass.

"What will define the performance of the overall device on those types of corner drops is stiffness of the phone design, but also how the glass is packaged," Bayne said.

Regardless, Corning’s new Gorilla Glass 5 is still the toughest cover glass in the market right now. The company said that their new glass will be available commercially on product models from leading global brands late this year.