My Phone After Three Months: A Look at Its Condition

I've been using my phone for three months now, and I'm excited to share its condition with you. As you can see from the video, it's still holding up quite well despite my best efforts to care for it.

One of the things that's clear from looking at my phone is how much it's handled already. The screen, in particular, has some scratches on it. I've been trying to take good care of it by wiping it clean with a high-quality cleaning cloth whenever I notice any dirt or debris accumulating on it. However, even with my diligent efforts, the screen still has a few light scratches that can be seen. One scratch runs from one side of the display down to the other, and there are a few others scattered around the edges.

I've also noticed that some things rub against the screen, like when I let my phone face down or touch it with something harder than glass. This has left behind tiny scratches on the surface. Despite my best care, these scratches can be seen, but they're not deep enough to cause any issues. It's clear that glass is a relatively fragile material – specifically, it has a hardness of about 6 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, which means it can be scratched by things like quartz and pumice.

The reason why I think my back glass doesn't have any noticeable scratches is probably because I clean it less often than my front screen. Additionally, the camera on the back of the phone ensures that it's not sitting flat against the glass for extended periods, which may also help to prevent scratches from forming in the first place. If you're like me and don't want to deal with scratched screens, tempered glass cases are an excellent option.

I chose a space gray model of the phone because I noticed that the coating on the stainless steel band made it less likely to scratch. The band has held up pretty well so far, too – although there are some slight scratches scattered across its surface. These scratches don't bother me at all, and I think they're barely worth mentioning. One thing to keep in mind is that scratched bands can be buffed out if they become too noticeable; however, this doesn't work with the space gray coating.

A common mistake people make when it comes to phone care is putting their device in a case without regularly removing it to clean out any debris or dirt that may have accumulated. This can lead to scratches and other damage down the line, as you've seen from my own experience – I've removed many cases over the years to find that they're full of scratches and debris. It's essential to remove your phone from its case every now and then to keep it clean and free of damage.

Another issue people sometimes face is burn-in on their displays, particularly with OLED screens like mine. Burn-in occurs when static images – such as radio bars or the clock – sit in one place for an extended period. This can cause the image to appear permanently etched into the display. However, Apple has implemented various techniques to mitigate this issue, including changing the color of certain elements on the screen and using advanced chemical tempering processes to make the glass more resistant to damage.

As I've been watching my phone over time, it's become clear that burn-in is a major problem with older OLED screens. The video shows me displaying a gray image – which is supposed to be relatively easy on the display – but even then, there's a brief outline of the little elements temporarily appearing as a result of the static image retention. However, this is not actual burn-in; it simply fades away once I switch to a different image.

The good news is that things look promising for my phone after three months. The screen may have some scratches on it, but they're relatively minor and barely noticeable. It's clear that even with proper care, phones can still develop wear and tear over time – but with the right precautions, you can minimize these issues. If you've been experiencing problems with your own device, I'd love to hear about them in the comments below!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey everybody this is Erica the technology nerd likes to film stuff and it has been three months since the release of the iPhone 10 Apple's most expensive iPhone and I've been using it quite a bit and often without a case and also I had not been using it with any screw protection whatsoever so I'm really curious to take a look to see how it's been holding up and I'm also curious to see how this has been doing with burnin as well because it's got an OLED display so let's take a look at it now I have to say out in the outcast daylight of Washington my phone still looks pretty darn perfect barring any fingerprints but what is the story like in more controlled bright lighting now back in my super-secret science lab with controlled lighting we can get a better look at the glass and the stainless steel band now I should preface everything was saying that even though I don't use a screen protector I am as careful as I can be I never placed my phone facedown or let things rub against the screen and they carry around a high-quality cleaning cloth with me to wipe the display with I also make sure that the screen is free of debris before wiping it to keep down the possibility of dragging dirt particles across the screen which will scratch it and you can see that even with my diligent care I still have a very light scratch extending down the display as well as some other little ones but no deep scratches that stand out I can't see how this happened is no particular event comes to mind but anything is hard or harder than glass will scratch your screen glass has a hardness of about a 6 on Mohs scale of mineral hardness this means that dirt particles courts for example quartz and with a hardness of 7 will scratch it the glass is further reinforced by an internal laser welded steel and copper structure we're so excited because this glass is the most durable ever in a smartphone Apple is great at making the best thing ever but they can't magically make glass harder than it is special proprietary compositions of glass alongside deep chemical tempering will make it resistant to damage and breaking while oleophobic coating will help with abrasion resistance but harder substances like sand will still scratch it all the same sequoias in your pocket or even your keys should not scratch it as they are softer than a six on Mohs scale but pockets and will and note that Stone wash jeans use pumice to create that worn look and these little stones can end up in your pockets and leave particles so out turn your Jean pockets and use a lint roller interestingly my back glass doesn't have any scratches that I can see possibly because I clean it less and because the camera makes it so that it's never sitting flat on the glass on the back so get yourself a screen protector if you can't handle normal wear like this tempered glass ones are awesome avoiding scratches altogether is impossible a note that scratches especially deep ones weaken the tempered glass making it more likely to crack so how is my stainless steel band doing so I chose the space gray model of the phone because I saw the coating on the stainless steel band made it less likely to scratch and it has held up pretty darn well it has so slight of scratches that they're not even worth mentioning even at the bottom where a case is usually open now if you have the silver model of the phone you can buff out those scratches if they start to bother you but you can't polish the space gray band because you're going to wear off the coating I don't do anything special with my band I just keep it clean and I'm careful when plugging my phone in a big mistake that people make is to put their phone in a case and then simply forget about it then a year later they remove the phone and the band and even the back is mega full of scratches dirt and debris get into your cases so you need to remove the phone from time to time and clean out the case and also the phone I've seen this myself as my mom was really mad to see nicks in the back of her iPhone as she'd never removed it from the case trusting that it was just going to protect it perfectly so moral of this story keep your phone clean don't assume your case is protecting it don't drag your phone across surfaces as you don't know what's really on them and clean out your pockets just doing these simple things keeps your phone nice lastly what about burnin of this display so burnin is caused by uneven wear of the OLED and the uneven where happens because of static images such as the radio bars that we see here even the clock or even their little home button navigation bar sitting here down at the bottom so Apple tries to circumvent that problem in part by changing the color of these elements from black to white or white to black depending on the application so do I see any burnin yet thankfully no if I go and display a gray image I can see the outline of the little elements momentarily but they fade away meaning it is showing a bit of temporary image retention which is typical of AMOLED but not actual burnin so what the three-month mark things are looking good this is not the OLED of old so I'm really thinking that even after a year is probably going to look pretty pretty fine so there you are with care this is how my phone looks after three months even without using a scraper Tector and just using a case minimally so let me know how your phone is holding up I've seen some disasters I've seen people saying that their display is completely scratched while the back is fine I'm certainly curious so thank you everybody for watching this has been erica the technology narrator likes to film stuff please rate comment and subscribe make sure to hit that notification bell to be notified of future videos hope you liked the video and I hope that it was informative have a good night everybodyhey everybody this is Erica the technology nerd likes to film stuff and it has been three months since the release of the iPhone 10 Apple's most expensive iPhone and I've been using it quite a bit and often without a case and also I had not been using it with any screw protection whatsoever so I'm really curious to take a look to see how it's been holding up and I'm also curious to see how this has been doing with burnin as well because it's got an OLED display so let's take a look at it now I have to say out in the outcast daylight of Washington my phone still looks pretty darn perfect barring any fingerprints but what is the story like in more controlled bright lighting now back in my super-secret science lab with controlled lighting we can get a better look at the glass and the stainless steel band now I should preface everything was saying that even though I don't use a screen protector I am as careful as I can be I never placed my phone facedown or let things rub against the screen and they carry around a high-quality cleaning cloth with me to wipe the display with I also make sure that the screen is free of debris before wiping it to keep down the possibility of dragging dirt particles across the screen which will scratch it and you can see that even with my diligent care I still have a very light scratch extending down the display as well as some other little ones but no deep scratches that stand out I can't see how this happened is no particular event comes to mind but anything is hard or harder than glass will scratch your screen glass has a hardness of about a 6 on Mohs scale of mineral hardness this means that dirt particles courts for example quartz and with a hardness of 7 will scratch it the glass is further reinforced by an internal laser welded steel and copper structure we're so excited because this glass is the most durable ever in a smartphone Apple is great at making the best thing ever but they can't magically make glass harder than it is special proprietary compositions of glass alongside deep chemical tempering will make it resistant to damage and breaking while oleophobic coating will help with abrasion resistance but harder substances like sand will still scratch it all the same sequoias in your pocket or even your keys should not scratch it as they are softer than a six on Mohs scale but pockets and will and note that Stone wash jeans use pumice to create that worn look and these little stones can end up in your pockets and leave particles so out turn your Jean pockets and use a lint roller interestingly my back glass doesn't have any scratches that I can see possibly because I clean it less and because the camera makes it so that it's never sitting flat on the glass on the back so get yourself a screen protector if you can't handle normal wear like this tempered glass ones are awesome avoiding scratches altogether is impossible a note that scratches especially deep ones weaken the tempered glass making it more likely to crack so how is my stainless steel band doing so I chose the space gray model of the phone because I saw the coating on the stainless steel band made it less likely to scratch and it has held up pretty darn well it has so slight of scratches that they're not even worth mentioning even at the bottom where a case is usually open now if you have the silver model of the phone you can buff out those scratches if they start to bother you but you can't polish the space gray band because you're going to wear off the coating I don't do anything special with my band I just keep it clean and I'm careful when plugging my phone in a big mistake that people make is to put their phone in a case and then simply forget about it then a year later they remove the phone and the band and even the back is mega full of scratches dirt and debris get into your cases so you need to remove the phone from time to time and clean out the case and also the phone I've seen this myself as my mom was really mad to see nicks in the back of her iPhone as she'd never removed it from the case trusting that it was just going to protect it perfectly so moral of this story keep your phone clean don't assume your case is protecting it don't drag your phone across surfaces as you don't know what's really on them and clean out your pockets just doing these simple things keeps your phone nice lastly what about burnin of this display so burnin is caused by uneven wear of the OLED and the uneven where happens because of static images such as the radio bars that we see here even the clock or even their little home button navigation bar sitting here down at the bottom so Apple tries to circumvent that problem in part by changing the color of these elements from black to white or white to black depending on the application so do I see any burnin yet thankfully no if I go and display a gray image I can see the outline of the little elements momentarily but they fade away meaning it is showing a bit of temporary image retention which is typical of AMOLED but not actual burnin so what the three-month mark things are looking good this is not the OLED of old so I'm really thinking that even after a year is probably going to look pretty pretty fine so there you are with care this is how my phone looks after three months even without using a scraper Tector and just using a case minimally so let me know how your phone is holding up I've seen some disasters I've seen people saying that their display is completely scratched while the back is fine I'm certainly curious so thank you everybody for watching this has been erica the technology narrator likes to film stuff please rate comment and subscribe make sure to hit that notification bell to be notified of future videos hope you liked the video and I hope that it was informative have a good night everybody\n"