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Smartphone glassmaker Corning has unveiled the newest version of its chemically strengthened Gorilla Glass, saying it is twice as strong as the previous generation of glass and twice as likely to survive falls on to uneven surfaces.
Cracked smartphone screens are a regular sight among users, but Corning says Glass 5 has been specifically designed to survive the most common falls – which occur from waist height or higher. As a result, Gorilla Glass 5 survives up to 80% of the time when dropped from 1.6 metres on to an uneven surface, which is in that hotspot between waist and shoulder height.
The previous version of Corning’s glass was Gorilla Glass 4, which was launched in 2014.
All this apparent added strength comes in the wake of internal research by Corning that found that 85% of smartphone owners have dropped their phone at least once in the last year, with two-thirds of those drops occurring from between waist and shoulder height.
John Bayne, Corning’s vice president and general manager, said: “With each successive generation of Corning Gorilla Glass, we have taken cover glass technology to new levels. Gorilla Glass 5 is no exception, extending Corning’s advantage in drop performance over competitive glasses.
“With many real-world drops occurring from between waist and shoulder height, we knew improving drop performance would be an important and necessary advancement.”
Smartphone makers including Samsung, HTC and Huawei have all used Gorilla Glass in the past, and with Glass 5 now in production and due to be ready later this year, it could well feature on more flagship designs before the end of the year.
