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The Google Nexus 7 tablet is arguably the first Android tablet that real human beings can enjoy and will want to use. But can it withstand the trials and tribulations of clumsy tablet owners? SquareTrade, the gadget insurance company, has put out their latest drop test video, pitting the Nexus 7 against the new iPad in a stress test.
The two tablets were dropped from standing-height onto concrete, dropped from sitting-height onto concrete, and briefly submerged in a bathtub. The iPad suffered cracks and screen scratched when dropped, and ended up with audio damage after being dunked in water. The Nexus 7? Sure, it ended up with some scuffs, but everything remained intact and functional after all three tests. Not too shabby. [SquareTrade]
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A few months ago a friend of mine bought an Ipad, in the hours after this he was valiantly defending it against our onslaught of anti-apple abuse and just as he was praising its ‘indestructible’ gorilla glass he walked into a flightcase (A very large unmissable flightcase, if he looked up from his Ipad he may have seen it) and dropped it creating a very large spider-web crack in the screen. He then had to pay £300 for a replacement. For him it became the most expensive tablet ever, he had to pass off over £800 to have an Ipad for more than three hours.
I have never laughed so hard in my life, nor shall I ever let him forget the moment he walked into a flightcase and broke his brand new £500 Ipad.
A few days later he had to get a third Ipad due to a manufacturing default in the second.
I was under the impression the iPad doesn’t have Gorilla glass?
t doesn’t, it has a similar type of material but manufactured by a different company, I was just quoting my friend who was under the impression that it was.
Plastic is lighter than metal so obviously as also seen in the video the iPad is falling much faster
Alex, the weight of an object doesn’t affect the speed it falls at. The guy drops the iPad slightly before the Nexus is released, that’s why it hits the ground first.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eTw35ZD1Ig
But the weight does affect the kinetic energy involved in the impact. A smaller, lighter 7 inch tablet will have the advantage there. Plus the plastic + rubberized coating of the rear cover and corners of the Nexus will have some ‘give’ to dissipate some of the energy too.
I don’t think I accurately described myself in the first post. The iPad because it is heavier will have a greater impact with the surface. The acceleration due to gravity is a result of the total mass of the two objects. As we are not in space there is no vacuum and therefore many variables to consider too such as Air resistance. The earth will also be drawn to the objects in question with acceleration proportional to mass of object. So assuming you drop one after the other and have a very accurate timer to hand you will notice the heavier object fall faster if you reference the earth as a fixed point.
Also Mass is physical manifestation of inertia. Mass is weight so the more mass the more potential inertia to over-come — either to make an object move or to stop an object once it is moving.
Both objects are not the same shape or made from the same materials either. Plastic and rubber as you probably already know are more flexible and can absorb the energy transfer better when it hits the floor
Weight of objects don’t affect the speed at which they fall. In this case nexus being the smaller of the tho should fall faster. (less surface area = less resistance)
http://www.csun.edu/scied/4-discrpeant-event/how_fast_do_things_fall/index.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mCC-68LyZM
Actually Charsi if you are going to be a pedant, the Weight of something DOES affect how fast it falls. Its Mass is the thing that doesn’t. Acceleration due to gravity varies depending on if you are in Mexico city or Helsinki
That’s not really how physics works. Two objects of differing masses will fall at the same rate… in a vacuum.
Since the tablets weren’t dropped in a vacuum, the thing which would affect the speed of impact would be the resistance from the air (drag). The greater the surface area, the greater the drag. So you could argue that because the iPad has a larger surface area, it is less aerodynamic, and therefore experiences more upwards resistance to its fall, it will actually fall slower than the Nexus 7.
You can see from around 00:27 in the video that the man holding the iPad releases it before the man holding the Nexus.
But what I know about physics are from many, many long years ago so happy to be corrected if I’m wrong.
Nope, you are correct minignong!
Alex that’s not true – they’ll both fall at the same rate. However, the force of the impacts will differ (force = mass x acceleration) – the acceleration due to gravity is the same for both tablets, but the mass of the iPad is greater, so there’s more force acting on the iPad at impact, which may make it more liable to damage. It’s more complicated than that, as angle of impacts will vary though!
Wait… It’s safe to use a Nexus 7 as a stone and skim it along the water and it’ll work fine? Anyone care to lend me one :p
This annoys me as much as people that smash their guitars on stage. Here’s most of us waiting to get theirs and they go all smashy smashy!!
I was about to say the same, I can’t afford to buy one to use never mind try to smash into oblivion.
It gets to me even more with guitars though because of the craft, time and skill that’s gone into them.
Yeah, I can imagine what the person who made a guitar would be thinking if they say it being wrecked. Like so much these days some people don’t deserve such things.
Was it just me, or did they have a different device for each test? That’s 3 Nexus 7′s and 3 iPads!?
Whilst experiments like these are interesting to see and are intended to be pretty light hearted, I do wish they would be a little more scientific. Since they are just releasing the tablets in any old way, it is as much luck as anything else how they land, and therefore, what damage is done.
Taking a direct knock to the screen or corner is going to result in damage. Landing on the back, or an edge, first is going to help. So the video doesn’t really tell you anything at all. It is entertainment only.
But I can’t work out why it is even entertainment. Perhaps it belongs in the same category as videos showing men being hit in the genitals, The Scheme, Jeremy Kyle show etc… things I don’t really want to see, but if I find myself looking, can’t pull myself away until I’ve seen it all.
I agree, if you’re going to do it, do it right. With regards to this test the iPad hits the ground directly on it’s corner while the Nexus takes the bulk of it’s blow spread along the bottom edge and then onto it’s back.
Now I’m not saying that one is stronger than the other but this definitely doesn’t prove anything.
As you mentioned the Ipad hit the ground on its corner, which seems not to be a fair test. Although twice it was the same corner that hit the ground, so maybe a slight unbalance in its design or just bad luck.
Yep about as unscientific as you can get… not to mention the weight difference but is it nice to know my Nexus 7 can take a reasonable bashing, I’ll still remain a little precious with my iPad though
Funilly enough I just had to replace our iPad due to a drop …moral of story; don’t lend your iPad to little brothers (even if they are 24).
I’m not sure if 24 counts as little unless of course he’s vertically challenged
Well I am bigger than him but then again we’re not technically related!