The self-reported 'unbreakable' XP3.20 Quest Pro mobile phone made by Sonim was successfully broken by a BBC reporter during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) a few days ago in Las Vegas.
BBC Reporter Dan Simmons was challenged by Bob Plaschke, Sonim CEO, to see if he can break the phone in a live demonstration. "You can drop it from at least 10 stories, you can go under water 20 feet for a half hour... you can hammer a nail with it. It is basically unbreakable."
Simmons picked up the phone, and then smashed it into one of the corners of the tank with a surprising amount of force -- and the screen broke. After it cracked, both the reporter and Sonim's CEO appeared surprised the screen was no longer intact.
Simmons was promised a free phone if he found a way to break the phone, but it's unknown if he actually got his free phone.
Even though it was broken in the demo, the somewhat "unbreakable" phone is ideal for the people who routinely drop a phone on the ground, in the toilet, or accidentally step on it.
Marketing products as 'unbreakable' is extremely risky, as consumers will ultimately do their best to try and break the device since they've been told it's unlikely to break. Flash memory and hard drive makers have made serious money by promoting more durable products, but have been careful not to promote them as unbreakable. At least ioSafe's Solo SSD survived its CES disasters.
