Gadgetory

I've been systematically tearing down and durability testing every single new smartphone that has come out for the past couple of years cell phones are some of the most abused pieces of technology on the planet and durability is pretty important today I'm going to show you which phone is the most durable phone of 2016 and which phone is the easiest to repair I will talk about some of the phones that failed in 2016 as well let's get started let's start with the least durable phones of 2016 I tested about 30 phones this year and only three of them completely failed my tests to show me me five the next fit Robin and the redmi note 3 hands-down the weakest phone of 2016 is the next bit Robin designed purely from plastic there is no structural integrity whatsoever inside the device the motherboard screws go directly into plastic instead of metal like they would on a normal phone keep in mind that this isn't a bad phone I'm sure it's great it just didn't last long enough for me to try it out now let's talk about the most durable phone of 2016 this was actually a really tough choice so many solid phones this year my personal favorite the Samsung Galaxy s7 felt super solid during my bin test but both sides of the phone are made with glass and glass does break easily when dropped unfortunately the ceramic me mix is literally unscratched ball but once again the ceramic material is even more brittle than glass so I have to go with the HTC 10 as the most solid and structurally sound phone of 2016 its metal body and angled corners turn this phone into a very solid beast but this also leads us to our next segment the least repairable phone of 2016 this award also goes to the HTC 10 not only is the thin glued shut but there are 14 screws after the glue with 13 different connectors and a mid frame inside the phone that makes it a nightmare to repair the easiest screen repair in 2016 is actually the Google pixel the glass back of the pixel keeps it from winning any durability awards but when it comes to repair ability all you need is some heat and pop off two little screws and the screen is set for replacement and the best part about it is that you can replace the screen without touching any other components inside the phone since they are protected by a middle separate layer it's a pretty brilliant and foolproof design a close runner-up for the easiest phone to repair is the LG v20 there is no glue inside of this phone which is refreshing but you do have to remove every single component from the phone before you can swap out the screen which gives more opportunity for something to go wrong during the repair as everything has to be touched and reconnected currently right now at the end of 2016 an LG V 20 screen replacement costs 105 dollars and a pixel screen replacement cost 135 dollars both of which are about the same price as an insurance deductible speaking of design the most innovative phone of this year is the show-me me mix with the edge to edge display and ceramic body this phone is extremely good-looking and stands out in a very eye-catching way so huge thumbs up to show me for taking risks and pushing the limits of cell phone design the least innovative phone of 2016 is the iPhone 7 after years of camera optical image stabilization being implemented in other smartphones Apple finally catches up and adds it to their camera on both the 7 and 7 plus but then they go and remove the headphone jack promising that wireless headphones are the future but then even Apple has so many issues producing the wireless headphones that they are delayed for the average consumer until January of 2017 which is five months after they were announced I've been using the iPhone 7 plus for the past two months to give it a fair chance and well I'm switching back to Android I'll have my full review posted in about a week or so so make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss that the LG g5 had potential to be innovative but failed pretty hard when it came to advertising their phone correctly even on their website right now they are still claiming that the LG g5 has a metal alloy body when clearly it has the warmth of plastic and a thick layer of plastic primer surrounding the entire phone the word alloy is defined as two or more metals joined together not plastic covered metal and finally 2016 wouldn't be complete without mentioning the note 7 it had the potential to be the best smartphone in the world but after many explosive recalls two million no sevens have to be returned to Samsung every major carrier in the USA is pushing out an update that will disable the phone entirely at the end of this December which means the no 7 will no longer be able to charge or make phone calls so if for some crazy reason you still have one be ready for that I did a Twitter poll earlier today and 75% of you guys keep your phones longer than a year which means durability is pretty important if you're looking for a phone on the cheaper end of the spectrum the 1 plus 3 does a really good job either way 2016 was an amazing and fun year for phones pretty much no matter what you buy the phone is going to be good as long as you stay away from the phones that are on my shelf of shame which one is your favorite let me know down in the comments below and make sure you're subscribed with your notifications turned on because I plan on doing a ton more durability tests and tear downs in 2017 thanks ton for watching I'll see you around