Zack Nelson, the owner of JerryRig Everything, has been doing durability, teardown, and repair tests on many different phones since 2012. Many of his YouTube subscribers might have mistaken his name to be Jerry which is not. Those who already know him might have an idea of what he does in the durability tests. For those who don’t, I would like to give a quick walkthrough. He starts with testing of the screen for scratch tests followed by heat test on the screen. Then he checks the material used in the build of the phone. Before doing the bend test, the durability of earpiece material and protecting glass used in cameras are also put to the test.
Zack’s Durability Test on Huawei Honor 6X/ GR5 2017 Explained
In his latest YouTube video, Zack performed a durability test on the Honor 6x. If the phone name Honor 6x sounds new to you, it is same as Huawei GR5 2017. In short, the phone failed badly in his durability test and ended up in his “Shelf of Shame”. The screen gets scratched pretty easily as the protecting glass used isn’t a Gorilla Glass. The screen starts getting scratches at the Level 2 of Zack’s hardness tool whereas many other phones’ screens only start having marks at the level 4 in the earliest.
On the bright side, the metallic grill over the earpiece is a durable one as compared to fabric materials. The plastic panels at the top and bottom of the phone will be a good player for shock absorption in case of occasional drops. Zack peeled off the plastics used in volume rockers and power button. Well, the Honor 6X is a budget phone and its build quality was no exception. Nonetheless, the back is made out of metal as expected.
When a phone is made out of metal, it is expected to be a sturdy one. Despite the metal back, Zack easily bent the honor 6X in his bend test. The bending didn’t crack the protecting glass but the LCD couldn’t survive it. Anyways, It is the same LCD that survived the heat test for up to 12seconds and recovered effortlessly. Zack mentioned the reason behind this bending to be the back metal not being screwed to the phone’s chassis.
As you can see from JerryRigEverything, the honor 6x failed the durability test of Zack Nelson. Hence, the phone has found its place in Zack’s Shelf of Shame along with other phones like Xiaomi Redmi Note 3.
Is Huawei GR5 2017 still a good buy?
Well, this durability test’s result was a disappointing one. The phone gets scratches easily and will bend without much of effort. Yes, they are problems but they have easy fixes as well. Your GR5 2017 will last longer if you handle it with care. All you need to have after you buy this phone is a quality tempered glass and a good phone case. The specs it offers and its performance as a daily driver and the promising cameras it has got easily overshadowed this durability test for me. In my personal preference, Huawei GR5 2017 is still a good buy for a phone under 30k in Nepal.
Here’s our full review of Huawei GR5 2017:
