Corning’s Gorilla Glass 7i promises tougher screens for mid-range phones

Corning, the company known for Gorilla Glass, just launched the Gorilla Glass 7i, aimed at mid-range smartphones. The company also revealed that OPPO will be the first to incorporate Gorilla Glass 7i into its upcoming devices.

In case you hadn’t noticed, glass protection on flagship phones has been getting really good recently. The Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with Corning’s latest Gorilla Armor, which not only offers ultimate drop and scratch protection but also prevents screen reflections.

But most of Corning’s latest developments have been aimed at the top-tier phones, while the cheaper phones often have to make do with older generations like Gorilla Glass 5 or even Gorilla Glass 3 (looking at you, Pixel 8a). The inconsistency in glass adoption across phone models presented a need for a more accessible yet durable option for mid-range devices.

Some of you might have noticed that there’s a Gorilla Glass 7i but no Gorilla Glass 7. That’s because the seventh generation of Gorilla Glass was rebranded as Gorilla Glass Victus, marking a shift in branding for Corning’s flagship-grade glasses.

By keeping the “7” in the name, Corning could be signaling that the 7i, while aimed at mid-range phones, is still ahead of GG5 and GG6 in terms of material science.

Corning claims that Gorilla Glass 7i can withstand drops of up to one meter on surfaces designed to mimic asphalt. In contrast, competitive lithium aluminosilicate glass from other manufacturers usually fails when dropped from half a meter or less.

To put this mid-range glass’ performance into perspective, Gorilla Glass Victus claims protection against multiple drops from heights of up to 2 meters. Additionally, Corning asserts that Gorilla Glass 7i is up to two times more scratch-resistant than its competitors.

I tried to determine how Gorilla Glass 7i stacks up against Gorilla Glass 5 or GG3 in terms of drop and scratch resistance, but Corning’s testing methods and metrics seem to have evolved over the years, making direct comparisons difficult. Therefore, we’ll have to rely on Corning’s own claims regarding the 7i’s durability for the time being.