Tony Zhan, 32, holds up his new iPhone 6 Plus after it went on sale at the Apple store in Pasadena, California September 19, 2014. Hundreds of customers waited in lines outside the store on the first day the new iPhone became available.
Tony Zhan, 32, holds up his new iPhone 6 Plus after it went on sale at the Apple store in Pasadena, California September 19, 2014. Hundreds of customers waited in lines outside the store on the first day the new iPhone became available. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES - Tags: BUSINESS TELECOMS)
Tony Zhan, 32, holds up his new iPhone 6 Plus after it went on sale at the Apple store in Pasadena, California September 19, 2014. Hundreds of customers waited in lines outside the store on the first day the new iPhone became available. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES - Tags: BUSINESS TELECOMS)

With the release of new flagships, tech Web sites see the occasion as an opportunity to subject the gadgets to torture tests, which PhoneBuff did with Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

A previous drop test on its back, side and front found that despite the screen shattering when the two iPhone 6 models were dropped on its front, the device was still operational.

Read: iPhone 6 Survives Drop, Both Accidental & Intentional

SquareTrade, which sells warranties for phones, had the devices go through different tests including sliding it across plastic or wood, dunking it for several seconds underwater and dropping the gadget from a height of about four feet.

To ensure consistency, SquareTrade used robots to do the tests and gave scores on a 10-point durability scales with a score of 10 representing the highest risk. It included the iPhone 5s and Samsung Galaxy S5 in the torture tests.

In the slide test, the iPhone 6 suffered just a few scratches, while in the dunk test, its audio was cut but returned after 30 seconds. In the drop test, the iPhone 6 Plus's screen detached from its aluminium body, which is an indicator of a structural problem.

The iPhone 5s and Samsung Galaxy S5 did not perform well in the slide test, but did well in the water test and drop test. The final score was 4 for the iPhone 6, 5 for the iPhone 6 Plus, 6 for the iPhone 5s and 6.5 for the Samsung Galaxy S5.

Given these torture tests and its results, SquareTrade said the two flagships are the most durable yet made by the Cupertino-based tech giant. Overall, all four models had a medium risk of breakage and there was no drastic differences among them.

"The phones are getting more and more durable ... Manufacturers are paying more attention," said Ty Shay, chief marketing officer of Square Trade.

YouTube/RatedRR

YouTuber Richard Ryan also subjected the iPhone 6 Plus to liquid nitrogen and a sledgehammer. For the first test, after the device is dunked in liquid nitrogen, it continued to work briefly but quickly shuts down.

For the sledgehammer test, because the previous test caused the device to become brittle, the iPhone 6 Plus shatters like a car window when smashed, and little pieces fly off.

Despite the case destroyed, Ryan said he could still identify the SIM card and several internal components that were intact. He also did a drop test, blender test and shot the phone with a 50-calibre bullet.

YouTube/RatedRR