Google Pixel 5 durability test looks for metal under layers of plastic

Vlad, 02 December 2020

Google's highest-end smartphone of the year isn't a true flagship, because it's missing the top of the line chipset. Even so, the Pixel 5 is interesting to see in a sea of similar looking glass-sandwich devices. On its website, Google keeps advertising how the phone is made out of metal, so YouTuber Zach from JerryRigEverything decided to go hunting for that metal, during one of his trademark durability testing videos.

Spoiler alert: what you're touching when you hold the Pixel 5 isn't metal, aside from the power button. The rest of the phone has layers of plastic hiding that metal, if we ignore the screen which is obviously covered with glass.

Google calls this a "bio resin" finish, which is probably just a fancy name for a plastic alloy. You have to go pretty deep to find any trace of metal. But, it is there if you dig enough. The wireless charging coil is is sitting pretty under the thick plastic layer.

Anyway, onwards to the testing itself - since there's Gorilla Glass 6 on the screen, there are scratches to be found at level 6 on the Mohs hardness scale, with deeper grooves at level 7.

Then... We're off to a strange land, where batteries fume and phones are left in acetone for an hour. Watch the video above to see all of the shenanigans, including whether the Pixel 5 can withstand the famous bend test.


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Reader comments

Google really cheaped out on materials but not price.

  • Robertvoice
  • 05 Dec 2020
  • LGq

Let's be honest: Pixel 5 is not the definition for premium phone or flagship. This is another failed intend to make an affordable phone and the prices wasn't affordable. They saved a lot of money in the Pixel 5 constuction 😌, they say...

  • Seb
  • 05 Dec 2020
  • wvS

They used plastic instead of metal for wireless charging and NFC, those signals and energy doesn't conduct well through metal. So from a durability standpoint, it's actually sturdier than the premium glass back phones like Samsung or ...

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