The cover glass on our smartphones has grown durable enough to withstand more than a few drops nowadays. Whether you’re talking about Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus or the iPhone’s “ceramic shield,” displays have gotten pretty tough. But one common complaint remains: phone screens are still all too easy to scratch. Sometimes, it feels like it’s even easier to scratch a premium phone than it used to be. Screen protectors are still a booming business, after all.
But today marks some promising news. During Samsung’s Unpacked event, Corning announced a new kind of cover glass called Corning Gorilla Armor that it claims makes big strides on several fronts. It’s debuting on the brand-new Galaxy 24 Ultra. First, and as to be expected, the company claims this is its toughest display glass yet. Wonderful. I’ll leave drop tests to the YouTubers. But more intriguingly, Corning says Gorilla Armor is its most scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass yet and up to four times better at avoiding scratches than competing glass options on the market.
Here’s how Corning tested Gorilla Armor:
To measure its exceptional scratch resistance, Corning created a new lab test — the “Scratch Bot” — to replicate micro scratches caused by day-to-day wear. On this rigorous test, Gorilla Armor showed no visible scratches and demonstrated over four times more scratch resistance than competitive aluminosilicate cover glasses.
I’m looking forward to seeing JerryRigEverything’s Zack Nelson put this one through his signature torture test to see whether the S24 Ultra is indeed better at fighting off scratches.
The company also claims that Gorilla Armor is much, much better in terms of visual clarity. “Compared to a typical glass surface, Corning Gorilla Armor reduces reflection by up to 75 percent, which enhances display readability and minimizes screen reflections in almost any environment,” Corning’s press release says. I’m a big fan of the antireflective coating on my iPad Pro, and if the S24 Ultra’s display can rival that (or come close), buyers are in for a treat.
Obviously, we’ll need to bear out these claims with real-world testing. It’s not uncommon for the latest smartphones to pick up some scratches during our review period — even when we’re being careful — so stay tuned to see how Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra fares.
