iPhone 17 Pro Max compares durability with Galaxy S25 Ultra when dropped on hard surface

(Dan Tri) - The iPhone 17 Pro Max with its unibody aluminum design and the Galaxy S25 Ultra with its titanium frame are both advertised as durable. So which option is more "steady" in real-life tests?

The iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max duo have had many changes in design compared to the previous version, including the camera cluster on the back being extended to the entire width of the body, and the product has a monolithic aluminum design, replacing the titanium frame as before.

The advantage of the aluminum design on the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max is better heat dissipation, helping the product not to get hot after continuous use, while reducing the weight of the device. However, the aluminum shell on the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max is considered to be easily scratched and not as durable as the titanium frame.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max uses a monolithic aluminum frame and only a small portion of tempered glass on the back, which makes the back of the product less likely to break when dropped (Photo: Apple).

The back of the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max is still equipped with Ceramic Shield tempered glass material exclusively developed by Apple.

Ceramic Shield is a type of tempered glass developed by Apple and used for the first time on the iPhone 12 version. This type of glass is reinforced with a layer of ceramic nanocrystals, which according to Apple will help increase impact resistance, avoid scratches and breakage when subjected to strong impact.

At the iPhone 17 series launch event, Apple said that the Ceramic Shield glass on the iPhone 17 is 4 times more durable and less likely to break than other types of tempered glass used in the smartphone market.

The screens of the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max use 2nd generation Ceramic Shield tempered glass, which Apple says is 3 times more scratch resistant than other types of tempered glass.

Galaxy S25 Ultra and iPhone 17 Pro Max are the most notable high-end smartphones on the market today (Photo: EG Tech).

Meanwhile, Samsung's most premium Galaxy S25 Ultra bar-shaped smartphone is equipped with a titanium frame, Gorilla Armor 2 tempered glass screen and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 tempered glass back. These are tempered glasses that focus on scratch resistance and shatter resistance when dropped.

Manufacturer Corning says its tempered glass is two to four times more shatter-resistant than other types of tempered glass used on smartphone screens.

iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Galaxy S25 Ultra - Which one is more durable when dropped freely onto a hard surface?

So is the Ceramic Shield glass and unibody aluminum frame on the iPhone 17 Pro Max enough to help this smartphone beat the Galaxy S25 Ultra in the durability test?

To find the answer, YouTube channel PhoneBuff used a specialized device to evaluate the durability of this high-end smartphone duo by freely dropping both devices in different positions onto a hard surface.

iPhone 17 Pro Max compares durability with Galaxy S25 Ultra when dropped on a hard surface ( Video : PhoneBuff).

The first test is to drop both products freely onto a hard surface, with the back facing down.

After the heavy fall, both products suffered quite serious damage on the back, with cracks appearing in many tempered glass layers. However, the Galaxy S25 Ultra suffered more serious damage with many cracks appearing all over the back and even on the camera lens. However, these cracks do not affect the product's ability to take photos.

The back of the Galaxy S25 Ultra was more severely damaged after the first test (Image cut from clip).

In the second test, the products were dropped at an angle onto a hard surface from a height of 1m. In this test, the titanium frame on the Galaxy S25 Ultra showed impressive hardness, with only slight scratches at the impact location.

Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 Pro Max's aluminum frame has suffered more damage and the scratches are more visible.

Notably, after the strong fall, the frame of the iPhone 17 Pro Max showed signs of being detached from the screen. It seems that the aluminum frame was too thin to withstand the strong impact in this situation.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max's aluminum frame showed signs of cracking after the second fall, while the Galaxy S25 Ultra's titanium frame showed impressive durability (Image cut from clip).

In the third test with the screen facing down when dropped from a height of 1m, both products showed cracks and scratches on the screen, with similar levels of damage.

However, while the Galaxy S25 Ultra still works perfectly, the iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera was damaged after this fall. However, the Face ID feature for unlocking by face on the product still works normally.

Cracks appeared on the screens of 2 products after falling from a height of 1m (Photo cut from clip).

In the fourth test, PhoneBuff dropped both products from a height of 1.5m with the back facing down. After this fall, the back of the Galaxy S25 Ultra continued to be damaged more, with the entire camera lens cracked. However, the product's photo-taking function still worked normally.

Moving on to the fifth test, PhoneBuff dropped two products from a height of 1.5m in an inclined position.

In this test, the Galaxy S25 Ultra's titanium frame continued to perform well, with only a minor scratch at the point of impact, while the iPhone 17 Pro Max's frame showed more serious damage. This drop also seemed to affect the iPhone 17 Pro Max's ability to focus when taking photos.

The camera lens on the Galaxy S25 Ultra broke after the 5th test (Image cut from clip).

PhoneBuff continued to perform the 6th test, when dropping 2 products from a height of 1.5m with the screen facing down. After the strong fall, the screens on 2 products appeared many cracks and scratches, but basically the products still worked completely normally.

Status of 2 products after final test (Photo cut from clip).

After 6 rigorous tests, both products still "survived" and operated normally.

PhoneBuff highly appreciated the durability of both products when giving the durability scores of the two products the same (55/60). This shows that the tempered glass on both the Galaxy S25 Ultra and iPhone 17 Pro Max has shown its anti-drop effect as advertised.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/cong-nghe/iphone-17-pro-max-do-do-ben-voi-galaxy-s25-ultra-khi-tha-roi-xuong-nen-cung-20250925035636062.htm