OnePlus 5 bend, scratch test offers a much needed reprieve
JerryRigEverything is used to putting every new high-profile through the wringer and, save for a few rare occasions, every one of those have been more or less great. Lately, however, Zack Nelson has been running into less impressive premium devices, like the HTC U11 and the BlackBerry KEYone. With the new OnePlus 5 and its promise of even better build quality, one has to wonder if third time's a charm. It turns out that it is, but in a positive sense.
Almost all phones have scratch resistance now down to "T". That's mostly thanks to the rather standard Gorilla Glass 5. Where phones vary, however, is whether the home button, if it has one on the front, is equally impervious. Most aren't. The OnePlus 5, with its ceramic home button, fortunately is. The back is made from anodized metal and isn't going to be scratched by the coins and keys in your pocket or bag. If you do have an open blade in there, however, you're out of luck.
Most of the time, burn tests haven't resulted in any cause for concern. While screens do show burns or shut off from the heat, almost all of them do recover. The OnePlus 5, sadly, does not. A white burn mark is permanently left where heat was applied. The OnePlus 5 uses an AMOLED screen, which burns white in contrast to the black of LCDs. However, Samsung, which also uses AMOLED, doesn't have this problem.
As for the bend test, the OnePlus 5 does survive, though not unscathed. The screen does popup out easily as it is not held down by strong, waterproofing adhesive. That, however, is as far as the damage goes and the smartphone remains operational.
The OnePlus 5 repeats the same mantra of offering more for less, though the "less" part is now a tad higher than any of its previous models. It is still significantly less than comparable flagships this year, which is definitely going to be its biggest draw, not its good but not best dual cameras. That is, if you can get past how it looks like some other high-end and more expensive phone.