Newsletter
Corning has announced that a new Android flagship from OPPO will be the first smartphone that will take advantage of the company’s newest durable cover glass, the Gorilla Glass 6. Even though it did not specifically identify the device in question, Corning was likely referring to the OPPO R17. The company did not provide any additional details about the smartphone besides stating it will be launched in a matter of weeks, hence pointing to the said offering being the OPPO R17. Corning described the move as a continuation of its collaboration with the Chinese tech firm, with OPPO equipping many of its recent Android smartphones with Gorilla Glass 5 for improved protection against drops and scratches.
Corning unveiled the Gorilla Glass 6 last month, and the company claims that its latest product offers significantly improved protection against drops compared to its previous cover glass module generation. The increased durability is made possible by the new glass composition of the Gorilla Glass 6 which allows for higher levels of compression. Cover glass protection is important in ensuring the durability of contemporary handsets, especially since consumers tend to drop their smartphones on a regular basis. According to the tests conducted by the manufacturer, the Gorilla Glass 6 can survive up to 15 drops from a height of one meter on a rough surface without suffering severe damage. In similar testing conditions, other cover glass solutions made from soda lime and aluminosilicate materials get damaged after the first drop, Corning claims. Gorilla Glass 6 does not offer improved protection against scratches compared to the previous generations of Corning’s solutions, having sacrificed improvements in that area for better drop survivability.
The Gorilla Glass 6 has also been specifically designed for handsets that use glass for more than 85-percent of their chassis. Moreover, the technology allows companies to offer printed glass backs, and also enables efficient wireless charging and improved optical clarity. Aside from smartphones, Corning is also developing durable cover glass technologies for smartwatches, with the company recently unveiling the Gorilla Glass DX and Gorilla Glass DX+ solutions. Altogether, the manufacturer claims that more than six billion devices from over 45 different manufacturers use the company’s cover glass products.