A few days ago, a user posted a video online showing him bending his brand new Huawei Nexus 6P. It did create a lot of ripples over the internet, but a simple analysis would suggest that bending a smartphone with sufficient force applied deliberately is no indication of its weakness. Bending of Nexus 6P is definitely nothing to worry about unless someone with an insane mind would try to break it deliberately.
And now another news is doing the round. The glass at the rear panel of the phone that covers the camera is being touted as susceptible to spontaneous cracks! The glass covering the rear camera is named “visor” due to its appearance. Four users on Reddit have claimed that the visor of their Nexus 6P shattered spontaneously without exerting any external force.
This weird phenomenon has been taken seriously by several users who have been asking for clarification both from Google and Huawei. These claims cannot be validated due to the lack of any proper evidence and any confirmation from either Google or Huawei. But what is weirder is the fact that neither of the companies has refuted these claims either. So, what is the truth behind these so-called spontaneous shattering of the glass and what could be the probable reasons?
Well, for now we will look at both the possibilities. There is insufficient proof to prove the shattering phenomenon or to disprove it. Since the time users of Nexus 6P are reporting the cracks in the visor of their phone, various theories are doing the round.
According to one theory, the cracks are due to overheating and sudden cooling of the glass. It happens when the phone camera is used for a longer period resulting in the heating of the visor. As it would happen with any glass that is warm and suddenly cools, the visor also breaks “spontaneously”. This theory assumes that the poor management of heat is the reason for the cracks in the visor. Another theory suggests that the tempering method used for the glass could be the reason it cracks when there is a shear force impact. There could be some structural flaw in the glass resulting in the cracks.
Both these theories seem far-fetched. There is a very low probability of the cracks due to sudden heating and cooling phenomenon as the glass used to manufacture the visor is a gorilla glass. Such glasses are robust enough to withstand such fluctuations in the temperature. The second theory sounds even more outrageous. A glass of this quality used in a phone like Nexus 6P must have undergone various stress testing thereby nullifying any chances of it breaking due to any structural faults.
Having said that, why would anyone take a chance with a $600 smartphone, especially when there are reports of shattering of the visor? Instead of worrying whether to buy Nexus 6P or not due to these reports, it is a good idea to wait probably for a while before this news can be validated. Alternately, you may buy a Nexus 6P with a protective case and a Nexus protection program.
