The Science Behind Smartphones' Finish: A Test of Durability

As technology advances, our smartphones become increasingly sleek and sophisticated. However, some users have reported that regular everyday items like keys and change can damage the finish of their new device, creating an unattractive look. In this article, we'll explore the process used by Google to create this finish and test its durability with various objects.

The Process Behind the Finish

Google's smartphone features a unique finish that is both sleek and durable. However, some users have reported that certain objects can scratch or mark the surface of their device, creating an unpleasant appearance. To understand why this happens, we need to examine the properties of the material used for this finish. The exact process used by Google is not publicly disclosed, but experts speculate that it involves a combination of materials and manufacturing techniques.

Testing the Durability

To test the durability of this finish, we conducted our own experiment using everyday objects like keys, lighters, change, and even coins. We started with a key, which some people put their smartphones in their pockets with. As expected, the plastic part of the lighter scratched the surface of our device, creating micro-scratches that were easy to rub off with our thumb. However, if we used the metal side of the lighter, the results were much worse, with deep scratches that were difficult to remove.

Next, we tried using a coin, which is another common object people put in their pockets. The result was even more pronounced, with a significant amount of scuffing and scratching on our device's surface. We repeated this test with different types of coins, finding that some produced worse results than others. The reason behind this difference lies in the material properties of each coin – harder metals tend to scratch the device more easily.

We also tested how water and soap can affect the finish. To our surprise, applying a small amount of soap and rubbing it gently with a toothbrush was able to remove most of the scratches or marks left by the lighter. However, we found that using white soap produced less prominent results than black soap, suggesting that this is an important consideration for maintaining the appearance of your smartphone.

The Results

Our tests revealed that while the finish of our smartphone is durable, it's not scratch-proof. The back of the device is somewhat porous, which allows tiny metal fragments from everyday objects to get stuck in the surface and cause marks or scratches. This problem can be mitigated by using a toothbrush and soap to clean off any marks or scratches, but repeated exposure to certain objects may still cause damage.

The Implications

So what does this mean for you? In general, most of the marks or scratches on your smartphone will be easy to rub off with a little bit of elbow grease. However, if you're particularly prone to scratching or dropping your device, it's worth considering the potential impact on its finish and appearance. You may also want to think about using a more durable case or screen protector to protect your phone from damage.

The Future of Smartphone Finishes

As technology advances, we can expect smartphones to become even thinner and more sophisticated. But as we've seen in this experiment, certain objects can still cause damage to the finish of these devices. To address this issue, manufacturers may need to consider new materials or manufacturing techniques that provide better scratch resistance. Alternatively, they could develop coatings or treatments that make it easier to clean off marks or scratches.

The Verdict

While our tests revealed that the finish of our smartphone is not scratch-proof, we found that most of the marks and scratches can be easily removed with soap and a toothbrush. However, repeated exposure to certain objects may still cause damage over time. By understanding how this process works and taking steps to protect your device, you can enjoy your new smartphone for years to come.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enso a lot of people have been hitting me up on social media on Twitter and so on telling me about the scratching issue this potential scratching fiasco that's going on with the new pixel devices pixel three pixel three excels specifically the black version a lot of people wanted me to test this out they were like loo it's another it's another gate you got all these iPhone gates where's the pixel gates you got to have equal gate opportunities so here we have it of course I gotta test this out you guys asked for it so you get it now the pixel three in front of me has actually been used by will poor will and so I forced him to sacrifice this model right here for this scratch test he's concerned he's worried he's upset but I think it might be okay things might be okay we'll find out and now the reason he's sacrificing this unit that he's been testing out is because I've been using the the white version funny story this is the regular pixel 3 I was on the three excel if you recall from the switch video I switched again in private to the mini version so I have a little bit more to say eventually about why I did that from the moment I first interacted with this device I was immediately struck by the unusual texture on the back of it it's got this kind of matte finish which is unusual for a glass back device but the trouble with your regular glossy glasses in generally you're gonna have fingerprints all over it and so on this is a step better apparently it doesn't come without its costs whatever process is being used here by Google to create this finish some users are reporting that regular everyday items like keys and change are marking this surface up and creating a pretty terrible look for your brand new device so I want to test that out I have a couple of different items here to test with this device of course I have the key the key is key some people put their smartphones in their pockets with their keys although if you're somebody who does that we can no longer be friends I'm amar I'm aggravated all right put the keys pick a phone pocket just phone all right from here on out we have a lighter some people put a lighter in their pocket this is plastic a little bit of metal on it let's see what that can do some change as well to run this very quick little experiment here now I do have to say the reason I'm a little less nervous than I might otherwise be is because I have checked out a video from Erika Griffin very well done video in which she did her own various tests kind of like this so anyway let's go ahead and run our own experiment see what our results look like and essentially find out if this is something that you should be concerned with or maybe it's overblown who knows let's do the test okay so first up let's use the lighter and let's use the plastic part of the lighter first see if this can create some scratching on here I'm seeing some micro scratches on it I don't know maybe Jack can pick that up you see that that's from the plastic that's actually quite amazing I don't think people are gonna be too happy about that but the thing about it is if I run my thumb up and down this I can kind of eliminate most of those marks those are not serious they're definitely marks rather than scratches in the case of the lighter what if the metal side of the lighter happened to hit the back of the device then what are we dealing with oh that's a lot that's a lot worse Jack what do you say you're not happy with that Will's definitely not happy with that what will his dog say what will oscar say when he sees that again I can kind of get rid of them just by rubbing it off that and that's where things start to get weird you're like what how can I rub that off when that happens look at that what so weird who knows maybe Google's gonna come out and claim that this is some type of feature what if you upgrade to like a coin a coin could be even worse it looks like that's not a good look at all a key it's the same thing look at this nobody wants this wow those still rub off it's so bizarre so basically the reason that I think this is happening is that the back is is somewhat porous and it's picking up tiny little metal fragments from these objects and creating these marks as a consequence the reason that it's picking up these marks is because it's probably harder than the item that's rubbing up against it let's go ahead and put a few deeper ones in there I know it's painful to watch so that is that's a very marked up smart actually it's kind of starting to look artistic can we have our own Banksy moment so you can see just on one swipe it gets rid of most of the scratches or marks I have to remind myself to keep saying marks but you can see sort of underneath still a little bit of that itching that came off of the key we could take it to some water you could rinse it off you could scrub it down so I do have some water here presents a toothbrush in fact inspired of course by Erica Griffin's video let's try a little soap out might as well we have some soap here seems to be true it it pretty much sets it back to the way it used to look it's really an odd position to be in with your smartphone though regardless like you don't intend on scrubbing down your smartphone would you care would you prefer for this to be glossy and potentially more of a fingerprint magnet as opposed to this smooth finish I don't know I guess that's up to you I'll pull out the white one and see what happens so here's a white one oh it does kind of pick it up but in a different way can you see that it's too subtle but it rubs right off anyway I think this one will probably show marks a little bit less than the black version and really just compete to you at this point how big of a deal is that to you most of the marks that you're probably gonna see on here you're gonna be able to rub off but at the end of the day it is glass you are not scratch proof here but it looks like at this point scratch gate is more of a scuff gate that pixel is back to life anger issues anger management there's somethingso a lot of people have been hitting me up on social media on Twitter and so on telling me about the scratching issue this potential scratching fiasco that's going on with the new pixel devices pixel three pixel three excels specifically the black version a lot of people wanted me to test this out they were like loo it's another it's another gate you got all these iPhone gates where's the pixel gates you got to have equal gate opportunities so here we have it of course I gotta test this out you guys asked for it so you get it now the pixel three in front of me has actually been used by will poor will and so I forced him to sacrifice this model right here for this scratch test he's concerned he's worried he's upset but I think it might be okay things might be okay we'll find out and now the reason he's sacrificing this unit that he's been testing out is because I've been using the the white version funny story this is the regular pixel 3 I was on the three excel if you recall from the switch video I switched again in private to the mini version so I have a little bit more to say eventually about why I did that from the moment I first interacted with this device I was immediately struck by the unusual texture on the back of it it's got this kind of matte finish which is unusual for a glass back device but the trouble with your regular glossy glasses in generally you're gonna have fingerprints all over it and so on this is a step better apparently it doesn't come without its costs whatever process is being used here by Google to create this finish some users are reporting that regular everyday items like keys and change are marking this surface up and creating a pretty terrible look for your brand new device so I want to test that out I have a couple of different items here to test with this device of course I have the key the key is key some people put their smartphones in their pockets with their keys although if you're somebody who does that we can no longer be friends I'm amar I'm aggravated all right put the keys pick a phone pocket just phone all right from here on out we have a lighter some people put a lighter in their pocket this is plastic a little bit of metal on it let's see what that can do some change as well to run this very quick little experiment here now I do have to say the reason I'm a little less nervous than I might otherwise be is because I have checked out a video from Erika Griffin very well done video in which she did her own various tests kind of like this so anyway let's go ahead and run our own experiment see what our results look like and essentially find out if this is something that you should be concerned with or maybe it's overblown who knows let's do the test okay so first up let's use the lighter and let's use the plastic part of the lighter first see if this can create some scratching on here I'm seeing some micro scratches on it I don't know maybe Jack can pick that up you see that that's from the plastic that's actually quite amazing I don't think people are gonna be too happy about that but the thing about it is if I run my thumb up and down this I can kind of eliminate most of those marks those are not serious they're definitely marks rather than scratches in the case of the lighter what if the metal side of the lighter happened to hit the back of the device then what are we dealing with oh that's a lot that's a lot worse Jack what do you say you're not happy with that Will's definitely not happy with that what will his dog say what will oscar say when he sees that again I can kind of get rid of them just by rubbing it off that and that's where things start to get weird you're like what how can I rub that off when that happens look at that what so weird who knows maybe Google's gonna come out and claim that this is some type of feature what if you upgrade to like a coin a coin could be even worse it looks like that's not a good look at all a key it's the same thing look at this nobody wants this wow those still rub off it's so bizarre so basically the reason that I think this is happening is that the back is is somewhat porous and it's picking up tiny little metal fragments from these objects and creating these marks as a consequence the reason that it's picking up these marks is because it's probably harder than the item that's rubbing up against it let's go ahead and put a few deeper ones in there I know it's painful to watch so that is that's a very marked up smart actually it's kind of starting to look artistic can we have our own Banksy moment so you can see just on one swipe it gets rid of most of the scratches or marks I have to remind myself to keep saying marks but you can see sort of underneath still a little bit of that itching that came off of the key we could take it to some water you could rinse it off you could scrub it down so I do have some water here presents a toothbrush in fact inspired of course by Erica Griffin's video let's try a little soap out might as well we have some soap here seems to be true it it pretty much sets it back to the way it used to look it's really an odd position to be in with your smartphone though regardless like you don't intend on scrubbing down your smartphone would you care would you prefer for this to be glossy and potentially more of a fingerprint magnet as opposed to this smooth finish I don't know I guess that's up to you I'll pull out the white one and see what happens so here's a white one oh it does kind of pick it up but in a different way can you see that it's too subtle but it rubs right off anyway I think this one will probably show marks a little bit less than the black version and really just compete to you at this point how big of a deal is that to you most of the marks that you're probably gonna see on here you're gonna be able to rub off but at the end of the day it is glass you are not scratch proof here but it looks like at this point scratch gate is more of a scuff gate that pixel is back to life anger issues anger management there's something\n"