A few months ago I told you that the smartphones of the future could have screens completely protected by sapphires, the protective bottles will be much more resistant than the current ones used in smartphones. Although the protection using sapphires is more expensive than Gorilla Glass, for example, those from Corning are trying to demonstrate the fact that their products are much more resistant. In the video clip above you have a demonstration of durability Gorilla Glass, Corning company glass resisting a pressure more than 2 times greater than that applied to a sapphire glass at the time of breaking.
Corning's conclusion: that sapphire, the world's second-hardest material after diamond, just can't take the lumps that a large smartphone screen has to bear. Sapphire is fine for protecting watch faces and camera lenses, Corning says, but isn't as optimal for phones. Jeff Evenson, Corning's senior vice president and operations chief of staff, said that sapphire came out ahead in resistance to macro-scratches, an important factor in warding off breaks, but not in a tumble test — where the device spins for 45 minutes and picks up scratches that weaken its structure — before succumbing first in a ring-on-ring pressure test.
Although Gorilla Glass is more resistant in the case of impacts, in the case of scratches sapphire is the right choice, those from Corning recognizing the superiority of the material in these conditions. Although Corning claims that Gorilla Glass is much more resistant, the company did not want to allow independent tests to be carried out to confirm its claims, nor did it publish a detailed report on the tests done in its own laboratories, but we will probably have an indubitable proof in the next period.
For now, sapphire glass is so expensive that it cannot be used to protect the screens of our devices, but for scratches it is better than Gorilla Glass.
