Man submerges iPhone 16 and iPhone 16e in liquid nitrogen to see which model is the 'most durable'
Most tech reviewers would test a smartphone's specs like its speed, camera or battery life.
But YouTuber TechRax did something a little different and put two iPhones in a bowl of liquid nitrogen to see which would survive.
This kind of extreme testing isn't out of the ordinary for TechRax. Over the years, he's made numerous videos of him smashing Tesla screens, hammering and scratching phones, and even throwing a Sony PlayStation 5 down a spiral staircase - for reasons we may never understand.
After a long hiatus of posting on the video-sharing platform, the YouTuber returned with Apple's latest iPhones: the $1,000 iPhone 16 Pro and the more budget-friendly $600 iPhone 16e.
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"We're going to put both of these devices in liquid nitrogen for a couple of minutes to see which one survives," TechRax said, adding that he ensured a fair test by equalising the battery levels on both smartphones to 83%.
According to Apple: "iPhone 16e features the toughest back glass in a smartphone, and [...] the Ceramic Shield, which is tougher than any smartphone glass."
Let me say, watching expensive smartphones getting frazzled in liquid nitrogen is certainly something.
As soon as the phones were submerged, the iPhone 16 Pro's screen started fading first and turning black.
"Woah," TechRax reacted as the nitrogen bubbled intensely around the devices.
Then came the first major crack. It was the iPhone 16 Pro's screen that shattered first, while the 16e’s screen remained partly visible, despite also cracking.
"What in the world?" the YouTuber said in shock. "That is interesting, oh my goodness."
The experimenter recalled doing similar tests on way older phones and they 'wouldn't crack like this.'
After pulling them out and letting them warm up, TechRax attempted to power them back on. He quickly noticed that the iPhone 16 Pro was officially done for, as the front screen layer had completely come off.
To his surprise, the iPhone 16e turned on and swiping actions responded well. Although the budget-end phone had screen errors and impact damage, it seem to function pretty normally.
Meanwhile, the iPhone 16 Pro was completely dead. The content creator tried plugging it in, but the only thing to respond was glitchy purple lights from under the reattached screen.
Ironically, the iPhone 16e looked 'more nasty' in physical damage than the Pro model, though the latter was beyond saving.
It just goes to show that more expensive doesn't always mean more durable. If anything, the iPhone 16 Pro showed it perhaps contained cheaper parts and design than its more affordable sibling - at least as far as this experiment goes.