A word of warning regarding phone construction

[LBTaylor1984]

Afternoon peeps

I have discovered something a little concerning about the XZ.

I clean my phone on a regular basis of fingerprints and dust, today I noticed the little rubber covers were dirty around the sill so I decided to clean them. with a cloth I wiped down the phones glass slabs and then wiped the rubber gaskets as with these ports there are nooks and cranies where dirt can get so I got out the compressed air to blow out any small particles.

To my horror the phone inflated making the screen and the back glass flex out off the phone like a balloon, I was sure I was seeing this so i held the phone in a manner where i could watch the reflection on the glass and sure enough it's bending to accommodate the compressed air. This may explain the glass being very sturdy to drops due to this flex, but how thick is it if it bends so easily?

For reference I was using canned compressed air, not a high powered high compressor.

I thought I'd share with the community about this, I suppose it shows it's water tight as it didn't escape out a gap etc.

Either way i'm a little shocked at the glass thickness.

 

[Ironmadan]

has this ever happened to you with a different cell phone?

 

[BobKatz]

Any photo evidence of bubble phone?

 

[defsix]

That sounds like the battery expanding. It could indicate a faulty battery.

Sent from my brain via my keyboard on my Xperia Z

 

[LBTaylor1984]

As I said gentlemen, the phone expands with the air pressure from the compressed air canister. The phone returned to its original shape as soon as I stopped spraying the air.

This isn't a case of the phone staying like it, but seeing glass flex that much is worrying


Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Sniper Spr3e]

As I said gentlemen, the phone expands with the air pressure from the compressed air canister. The phone returned to its original shape as soon as I stopped spraying the air.

This isn't a case of the phone staying like it, but seeing glass flex that much is worrying


Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk 2

I would much rather see it flex alot then shatter personally. If it can take as much abuse as you say then it simply makes me more confident in its ability to survive damage

Sent from my Xperia Z

 

[cheetah2k]

Not surprising, if it bellows out then that means its perfectly sealed. Other IP57 phones would do the same.

Try doing it with a non-IP57 phone and there are plenty of gaps for the air to escape..

 

[lee480]

Not surprising, if it bellows out then that means its perfectly sealed. Other IP57 phones would do the same.

Try doing it with a non-IP57 phone and there are plenty of gaps for the air to escape..

Yeah. Because the phone's shell is sealed. So nothing comes in means nothing will come out.

 

[Rashkae]

The phone itself uses thin glass and is flexible. I remember the YouTube videos of the Korean guy who bent his Z into an arc shape (it was fine). So yeah, I'd say what you are seeing is correct.

Sent from my gorgeous White Xperia Z

 

[LBTaylor1984]

Perhaps it's just me, but i'm not used to the term flexible glass I still see glass as a rigid material so any flex seems out of character. It seems fine obviously after this but I just thought it would be solid inflexible etc.

 

[ligerblitz]

I read the title of the post and got scared -_- lol. After reading it thought I fully understood what went on with the "balloon effect". The glass for these phones are amazing...very strong and flexible...like a pole dancer

 

[Ussy]

Perhaps it's just me, but i'm not used to the term flexible glass I still see glass as a rigid material so any flex seems out of character. It seems fine obviously after this but I just thought it would be solid inflexible etc.

Inflexible glass would shatter the instant you dropped it from waist height on to any non carpeted surface.

The glass on the Z is much more intelligently designed and expensive than that.

Sent from my C6603 using xda premium

 

[decadan1977]

Agree with the above post. People are really taking the Glass by the conventional sense of the word. Windows and such. I much prefer the flexible variety. Which you may or may not know traces it's roots back to Roman times. Bit of useless information for you.

Sent from my C6603 using xda premium

 

[cheetah2k]

Agree with the above post. People are really taking the Glass by the conventional sense of the word. Windows and such. I much prefer the flexible variety. Which you may or may not know traces it's roots back to Roman times. Bit if useless information for you.

Sent from my C6603 using xda premium

If you've ever been in your house in a storm with strong wind, the glass in your windows flexes just as much :good:

 

[xchasa]

Agree with the above post. People are really taking the Glass by the conventional sense of the word. Windows and such. I much prefer the flexible variety. Which you may or may not know traces it's roots back to Roman times. Bit of useless information for you.

Sent from my C6603 using xda premium

Totally.
And some people just don't know how tempered glass works.
I'm a builder and when we demo houses we throw hammers, bricks whatever we can find to smash tempered glass. 99% of the time everything just bounces off.
But tap the raw edge with a chisel and the whole pane literally explodes.

Sent from my C6603 using xda app-developers app

 

[fookea]

i see you ride DH so lemme ask you this : is your visor flexible or not ? Yes it is... so it doesn't shatter on impact. the same applies to the glass ! Anything that is flexible is a-okay !

Ride safe !

 

[tommybrrr]

Either way i'm a little shocked at the glass thickness.

People expect lightweight & affordable phones. If you take away those two factors, it would be easily possible to use more advanced materials, but your phone might be a couple of times more expensive and certainty a bit heavier.

Transparent Aluminium

 

[phantom4u]

so it really is that much water/air proof !! great

 

[DreadPirateDan]

I'd only be concerned if it DIDN'T expand at least slightly. It just proves that it's properly sealed and air/water tight.

Blasting such a small device (or any device) with so many sensitive parts all located close to each other with any form of compressed air (be it canned or motorized compressor) is never a good idea. Unless you truly understand what you are doing and know what will happen as a result.

e.g. no consideration was taken into account that the device is water tight and therefore air tight; the effects of using compressed air on it could have been much more severe given there is no where for the air to depressurize. A bending case/glass is nothing compared to potentially cracking the LCD screen underneath the exterior glass.

An old (clean) toothbrush would probably be the better choice for your next spring cleaning session

 

[kgpp2293]

This is the so called dragon trail glass I believe its a very strong and flexible glass. Do some research

Sent from my C6603 using xda premium