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The iPhone 17 Pro Max drop test is finally here where it's going head-to-head against the Galaxy S25 Ultra. This year, Apple looks to have made some really big improvements with the 17 Pros not only getting an aluminum unibody, which means that there's literally less glass on the back to crack to begin with, but the portion that still is glass now uses ceramic shield, which Apple says is four times stronger. On top of that, the glass on the front is even tougher than before with ceramic shield 2, which Apple says delivers 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 15 g lighter. Will that be enough for it to beat the iPhone? Or will Apple's durability claims prove true? Let's find out. This episode is sponsored by ESR, who sent out their new Cybert case along with their Armorite Pro screen protector, which is actually made with accessory glass by 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 up to 23 ft of drop protection, and it's thanks to its two-layered design where you get a hard shell for structure and a soft inner shell to help absorb impact.
and combined with the raised lips over the front in the camera, plus the full button coverage and even a dust flap for the USBC port gives you all-around protection for the iPhone 17 Pro Max. And what's cool is this zinc alloy guard also doubles as a kickstand. It works in both landscape and in portrait with the Max Safe magnets on here also being two times stronger than most cases, so your attachments will stay nice and secure. Now, to go with the case, ESR says not only is their new screen protector 10 times stronger than generic ones, while also offering two times better scratch resistance, but it's also super easy to install with their two-step tray system.
And maybe more importantly, it reduces reflections by up to 50%. And yes, in our drop tests on the back, the corner, and the face drop, the combo helped the iPhone survive without a problem. I mean, the screen protector needed replacing, but the phone underneath is perfect. ESR also has this classic clear case if you want something a little bit thinner while still getting 11 ft of drop protection. So, I'll be putting all the links and info you need down below. All right, so before we start dropping these phones, we need to address two major problems that we've had with our drop tests in the past. The first has to do with our mounting system. So, even though we used bubble levels, they
weren't perfectly accurate. So, we spent weeks designing and testing a custom mounting system that lets us rig devices with just a much higher degree of precision. And then the second issue we had has to do with this concrete paver where technically every time we dropped a phone on it, it smoothened the PA out a bit, which made the surface weaker over time. Now, you would think that just swapping the paper out would solve this, but because every paper is made slightly differently, it would make any cross comparisons we did inconsistent. So, to truly solve the problem, we're switching over to sandpaper. This is the same type of surface that Corning themselves uses in their lab testing
where we can easily swap in a fresh sheet after every single drop while maintaining consistency when we do so. Now, to make sure that we weren't just guessing on which sandpaper to use, we bought a professional roughness meter. We took dozens and dozens of samples from real sidewalks and asphalt and found that 80 grit sandpaper is the perfect blend, giving us the best match to a realworld surface. So, with that out of the way, let's get to round number one in the 1 m backdrop. Okay, so you were able to see it in that slow-mo footage. The rear glass on the iPhone cracks, but at least compared to the Galaxy, it's not that bad. Now, part of this has to do with the fact that there's just less glass to crack to
begin with, but part of it also could be due to the extra structural shrink that aluminum unibody is providing. Whereas on the Galaxy, not only is the glass just shattered, but it almost looks like the glass near the telephoto camera is caving in a bit. And if you look closely at the camera system, unfortunately, that laser autofocus also has a crack in it, as well as both of the telephoto cameras. Now, the good news is it doesn't seem to affect the Galaxy's functionality after our 15-point inspection, but it is a clear win for the iPhone in round number one. Round number two, 1 m corner drop. Two, one. So, the good news is both phones still remain fully functional, but the bad news, at least for the iPhone, is that
aluminum does not look good at all. Not only is it scuffed up really bad, but it is also dented. Like, I don't think I've ever seen damage like this before. It might just be due to the thinner bezels that Apple is using now compared to the last time they used aluminum. But compared to the Galaxy and it's more premium titanium, it's no contest. I mean, the Galaxy looks almost like it wasn't even dropped on its corner, giving it the easy win in round number two. Round number three, 1 m face drop. Three, two, one. All right, moment of truth. Did one of these phones survive? And no. Whether you call it Gorilla Armor or Ceramic Shield 2, both phones unfortunately have their glass cracked. Now, I will say, at least compared to previous generations
from a few years ago, these cracks aren't as bad as the full-on shattering that we've seen. But at least for the iPhone, it was unlucky enough to have some of its spiderw webbing go over that new selfie camera, which is causing flare issues. Now, the good news is Face ID still works perfectly fine, as does the fingerprint scanner on the Galaxy. But because the Galaxy still retains its perfect functionality, it gets the edge in round number three. Round number four, 1.5 m backdrop. Three, two, one. So, with both phones already having their rear glass cracked, at this point, we're more interested in their impact and shock resistance, plus any secondary damage, which for the iPhone, there
isn't a whole lot. It looks pretty much the same as before, apart from some of the scuffing around the camera housing. Where on the Galaxy, it's a different story with all five of its camera system elements now having cracks in it. I mean, the ultrawide is completely shattered. And that main 1x camera is also in pretty bad shape. And as you would expect, it's showing up in the image quality with there being significant flaring issues on the ultrawide as well as a bit of flare on the main camera. Whereas on the iPhone, the camera system is holding up just fine, giving it the win in round number four. Round number five, 1.5 meter corner drop.
Two, one. After that 1.5 m corner drop, the iPhone's aluminum looks even worse than before with a lot of that orange paint now stripping away. But the bigger issue is what's happened to its main 1x camera, which has now lost its ability to focus, meaning anything that isn't at just the right distance away will appear blurry. Whereas on the Galaxy, the cameras do still technically work, obviously, outside of the flaring with the titanium corner looking almost perfect. I mean, there are barely any scuffs and zero dents. So, it's a big win for the Galaxy in round number five. Round number six, 1.5 m face drop.
Three, two, one. So, with that final drop straight onto its face, there isn't too big of a difference between the two. I mean, obviously the glass on both phones are now more shattered than before, but that's to be expected given that they were already cracked. But the big thing we're looking for is additional loss of functionality, which at this point doesn't really seem to be the case with both phones working just as they were in the last round. So, I'm going to have to
call it a tie in round number six. All right, so with all six rounds in the books, it's time to take a look at the scorecard, where in round number one, the iPhone's aluminum unibody translated into less damage not just to the glass panel, but also to the camera system. In round number two, the Galaxy's Titanium looked pretty much undamaged compared to the scuffed and dented frame on the iPhone. In round three, the phones did pretty much the same outside of a hairline cracked through the iPhone selfie cam. In round four, every single element on the Galaxy's camera system either cracked or shattered with the iPhone only suffering some scuffs. In round five, all that brute force on the
corner caused the iPhone to lose actual functionality on its main 1x camera, which presumably would be more expensive to repair. And then finally in round six, well, both phones held up roughly the same, which means in the end, this one is a tie. But how do you score it? Let me know down below in the comments. Anyways, that is it for me in this video. Thank you for watching. And as always, I'll see you in the very next episode.
