so 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
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