The Samsung Galaxy S23 might be able to survive a waist-high drop on concrete

Like I told you in November, Corning says its new cover class should be able to survive a one-meter drop on concrete, one of the more difficult landings for a phone because of all those jagged bumps. (The original Gorilla Glass Victus from 2020 claimed to be able to survive two-meter drops, but only on smoother asphalt; Victus 2 can do that as well.)

Now, we don’t know that Samsung’s phones will actually survive any of those drops. Yours might not! Corning’s latest press release with Samsung doesn’t tout the one-meter claim at all, only saying that the glass itself has “improved drop performance on rough surfaces like concrete,” and the company wouldn’t answer whether Samsung’s phones would meet that one-meter bar. “Further questions about Samsung’s product designs should be directed to Samsung,” Corning spokesperson Jamie Post tells The Verge.

It’s also possible that some of Samsung’s phones might have that level of drop protection, and others won’t. Corning’s one-meter claim was based on dropping a 200-gram puck facedown onto a piece of 80-grit sandpaper mounted on a hard surface (yes, that’s not technically concrete), and 200 grams is roughly the same weight as a midsize Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus. A leaked spec sheet suggests the Galaxy S23 Ultra will weigh 233 grams, though, so Samsung’s flagship might not survive the same drop.

Corning does says Gorilla Glass Victus 2 has the same upgraded scratch resistance as the original Victus, which is good even if you’re primarily worried about drops — because as soon as glass gets a decent-sized scratch, it becomes a lot easier to fracture.

Samsung S-series phones typically include the latest Gorilla Glass, and they similarly were the first to use 2020’s Gorilla Glass Victus, so we kind of expected this news. Apple, meanwhile, has partnered with Corning on its own exclusive glass-ceramic blend called Ceramic Shield, which it advertised as the toughest smartphone glass ever. My iPhone 13 Mini has the stuff, but it didn’t keep it from getting nasty scratches.