Consumer Reports offers the definitive take: ‘Bendgate’ is overblown

So we know that the iPhone 6 Plus will bend if given enough force. The more important question is whether it will bend as part of your everyday use. Consumer Reports, which wasn’t afraid to slap Apple around over the iPhone 4’s flawed antenna placement, delivers what looks like the definitive take on the issue and the answer is, “No.”

The widely respected product testing magazine put the iPhone 6 Plus and several other smartphones through a “‘three-point flexural test,’ in which the phone is supported at two points on either end, then force is applied at a third point on the top.” The result was that while the iPhone 6 Plus did indeed bend with enough force, it was actually better than some other flagship phones it tried, such as the HTC One (M8) and the iPhone 6. Most importantly, Consumer Reports found that there’s very little likelihood of the phone bending with everyday use.

Interestingly, although Consumer Reports declared “Bendgate” to be overblown, it did confirm something that we saw in other videos that compared how easy or hard it was to bend different devices — namely, that Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 is remarkably difficult to bend. According to Consumer Reports’ tests, it took a whopping 150 pounds of force to deform the Note 3, whose plastic case was also found more likely to snap back into shape after being bent. With the iPhone 6 Plus, in comparison, it took about 90 pounds of force to deform the phone.

Until someone comes out with an even more rigorous testing method, we’d have to say this likely means the case is closed: You can safely buy an iPhone 6 Plus and you won’t have to worry about it bending in your pocket.

You can watch the full Consumer Reports video below.

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CONSUMER REPORTS