If you haven't had your fill of plastic for today, then Jerry of the YouTube channel JerryRigEverything would like to serve you some. He scraped off plenty from the Sony Xperia XZ.
The YouTuber is known for the scratch, burn and bend tests that handhelds go through once he gets his hands on them. And the $650 Xperia XZ wasn't exempted.
The Scratch Test
Following the usual order and format of his tests, the YouTuber started with the Mohs hardness test. He scratched the screen glass of Sony's 2016 flagship with different materials that correspond to different levels of hardness on the Mohs hardness scale.
The XZ's screen glass didn't get any scratches until level 6, which is fine since most of the previous flagships tested, including the Google Pixel, also got scratches at around level 5 and level 6. Hence, the XZ should be safe against coins, keys and some other common things that people usually store in their pockets.
At level 10 of the Mohs scale sits the diamond. Next to it, at 9, are rubies and sapphires. At level 8 is topaz and at 7 is quartz.
The front-facing selfie camera is also covered by the same screen glass and thus, it's also fairly safe from scratches. Next to it is the exposed top speaker grill that is made of plastic. Although not as sturdy as the metal grills on other flagships, it should cause no problems unless poked by sharp materials. The same can be said for the bottom speaker grill.
The XZ's back panel is made of metal, but just below it is a thin bar that looks like metal but isn't. Scratching it revealed that it's made of plastic. Unfortunately, the plastic reign over the XZ does not end there.
The LED flash is made of plastic, which is understandable since most outfits do the same. The SD and SIM card tray are also made of plastic, which can be forgiven. However, the side bars are also made of plastic, which is questionable for a $650 handheld.
With time, the paint will wear off the plastic and cause discoloration. Needless to say, it's quite prone to scratches.
Scratching the top and bottom edges of the phone reveals that it's made out of *drum roll* you guessed it, plastic. Moreover, the power button, which doubles as the fingerprint scanner, is also made of plastic. And, unlike the Google Pixel's fingerprint scanner, which worked without problems even after it was scratched plenty, the XZ's scanner malfunctioned.
Luckily, Sony decided not to use plastic for the camera lens. The camera button, along with the volume rocker, is made out of metal.
The Burn Test
At this point, the YouTuber subjected the Xperia XZ's 5.2-inch IPS display to fire for more than 10 seconds. While the pixels turned black after getting subjected to direct flame, they managed to fully recover without any black or white spots on the display.
During the same burn test, the Google Pixel's display wasn't able to recover fully and a white spot remained. This is largely due to the Google opting for an AMOLED display over an IPS one.
The Bend Test
This is where all those plastic components really shine. Flexing the XZ cracked its side bars. Ah, the wonderful sound of $650 cracking! However, even though it was bent and its side bars were cracked, the phone was still fully functional.
