Nexus 6P’s ‘visor’ cracking unexpectedly for some users

Mumbai: With smartphones getting unimaginably compact these days, it seems manufacturers are facing serious problems in fitting in all the components with out any flaw.

Even giants like Apple had been subjected to a lot of criticism for a ‘bending’ problem on the Apple 6 Plus. A recent report points out that most smartphones sold these days are just not durable enough.

The Huawei-manufactured Nexus 6P might be the latest addition to the lengthy list of defective handsets to be manufactured in recent times.

Several Nexus 6P users are reporting that the handset’s glass panel camera covering is cracking unexpectedly.

One user has even pointed out that he kept his device screen up on the table and the glass just cracked spontaneously without him even touching the device.

(Photo Credit: Reddit) 

He said in his post: “Well that was a surprise. For me, and the cat. It was sat on a table next to me when I heard the glass snap, leaving a little snowfall of shavings on the table under it. It's now continuing to crack away to itself.”

The root of the cause is still blurred, as Google has not yet given any official statement. A possible reason cited by tech websites and experts, is the impact of temperature on the glass panel—the glass (Visor) expands as it heats up and shrinks rapidly while on a cool surface like granite or marble.

Another Reddit user explained in a post: “This could be caused by the method they use to temper the glass. I'm by no means an expert, but the method used to temper Gorilla glass involves giving the glass ion baths to strengthen it.”

He further said: “The strength comes at a cost though—due to the strong attraction of the glass particles to one another and compression of the whole, the glass develops lines of internal torque and stress, leading to explosive results if the glass is impacted or pressed from the wrong angle.”

According to the elucidation, most of the screen damages occur in the front facing side of the phone and it is designed to resist head-on impact. This makes other glass portions of the device vulnerable. As a remedy, most screens (including the 6P's) have a very small plastic shock ring between the case and the screen. Nexus 6P’s visor does not appear to have one of these.

This may turn out to be the second Nexus smartphone that has suffered from a similar consequence after Nexus 4, which had a full glass rear body. The Nexus 4 later received a hardware revision, which ensured that the full glass back panel was not in direct contact with the surface below.

If this issue keeps escalating, Huawei and Google might find themselves in a tough situation, as there are many other hardware issues that need equal attention.