Corning’s Gorilla Glass has been a go-to choice for top smartphone manufacturers to get a protective layer on the displays. It has been doing quite well, with companies opting to go with the Gorilla Glass 4 for protecting the smartphone’s display as well as the back glass panel if the design of the phone is such.
At an event in its facility in Palo Alto, California, Corning Incorporated has introduced the new generation of protective glass, the Corning Gorilla Glass 5. According to the company, the Gorilla Glass 5 is said to survive drops from a greater height than what the Gorilla Glass 4 usually did.
Corning’s VP and general manager, John Bayne said that to make the GG5 more drop resistant, the tests were done for higher drops during the development of the new generation of Gorilla Glass. As is the case with earlier generations as well, the strength still depends on how manufacturers are going to design their smartphones and what is the thickness of Gorilla Glass that they are going to use on their device.
The Gorilla Glass 5 was said to be tested at a height of about 1.6-meters, which is close to Shoulder level, and from that height, this glass survived for up to 80% of the time. Samsung, Lenovo, Motorola, Asus and LG are among the major smartphone manufacturers who use Gorilla Glass on their smartphones, but the company has declined to comment on whether it will be these brands who would use Gorilla Glass 5 on their devices.
According to the internal data of the drop events, Corning found out that the Gorilla Glass 5 outperforms its predecessor by 1.8 times. There were to things changed to bring about this strength in this glass – the materials used to make the glass, and the chemical used to strengthen it.
Corning does some tests like putting a device with the protective glass inside a jar full of accessories seen in a regularly used bag. This jar is then rotated for a set amount of time to see how much scratch-resistant the glass is. After the tests, it was found that the scratch resistance of Gorilla Glass 5 is roughly at par with that of the Gorilla Glass 4.
“With each successive generation of Corning Gorilla Glass, we have taken cover glass technology to new levels. Gorilla Glass 5 is no exception, extending Corning’s advantage in drop performance over competitive glasses,” said John Bayne, vice president and general manager, Corning Gorilla Glass. “With many real-world drops occurring from between waist and shoulder height, we knew improving drop performance would be an important and necessary advancement.”
The Gorilla Glass 5 will hit the devices later this year and it is commercially available now. For the previous generations, Corning will be selling them for the time being at a lower cost, but will later stop selling the Gorilla Glass 3.
Sources: Corning
