Hugo Barra tortures the Redmi Note 3 in ultimate durability test

Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra and Jai Mani have put the Redmi Note 3 through a series of durability tests to demonstrate the strength of the proprietary glass it uses. Many Xiaomi fans questioned the durability of the glass when it was revealed that the Redmi Note 3 doesn’t use Corning’s Gorilla Glass for display protection. Nevertheless, as the video below proves, the Redmi Note 3’s mystery glass certainly appears to be up to snuff.

If you want the science behind these things, screen durability is typically measured by the Vicker’s Hardness Test, which produces a result known as Diamond Pyramid Hardness (DPH). You can watch the video for an explanation of how that number is generated, but the Redmi Note 3 display glass achieves a DPH range of 649 – 670 kgf/mm2 (that’s kilograms of force per square millimeter). For comparsion’s sake, Corning Gorilla Glass 4 only scores a Vickers Hardness Test DPH of 596 kgf/mm2.

The reason it’s a range and not a specific number is because Xiaomi sources the glass used on the Redmi Note 3 from several suppliers. However, as Barra notes in the video, the lower end of the scale is still equivalent to the hardness rating of the most popular screen protection in India. This may also explain why Xiaomi doesn’t give the protective glass a particular name – because it’s not always the same.

The video itself is quite fun too, with the usual key scratch test kicking things off before Barra rolls over the phone on his hoverboard and then a dumbbell gets dropped onto it. The pièce de résistance is when Jai and Hugo jump in a car and drive over the Redmi Note 3 in a parking garage. Surprisingly, the phone turns on and works perfectly fine. And then Hugo drops it in the outro…

Have you scratched up a smartphone display? How do you protect your phone?