Tester slams 'Bendgate' iPhone controversies with scientific bend test

After raising controversies about the 'bending' iPhone 6, a product tester tried to create the definitive scientific phone-bending examination and found that all the phones did very well.

The tester, Consumer Reports, used an Instron Compression machine and tested several of the more famous phones on the market. Definitive numbers make for less flexible viewing, CNET reported.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 came out on top. It bench-pressed 150 pounds and came in 20 pounds ahead of the LG G3 and the iPhone 5.

The iPhone 6 and the HTC One M8 bore 70 pounds.

The test involved a so-called three-point flexural examination. This involves bracing the phone firmly at either end and then applying pressure to its middle, report said.

The testers applied 10 pounds of force for 30 seconds. Then they let the phones breathe and regain their shape before they increased the force by another 10 pounds. This they kept doing until the phones were permanently deformed.

But how much force is, say, 80 pounds? Well, these tests showed that the compression machine needed that much force to break down four pencils, the report added.

The condition needed to deform the iPhone 6 was very much more than the normal conditions.