A long list of smartphones found their way into the hands of popular tech YouTuber Zack Nelson this year, and every single one faced the same unforgiving durability test. Through his well known JerryRigEverything channel, Nelson puts modern smartphones through a routine that is equal parts brutal and revealing.
The test itself is not scientific in the traditional sense, but it is consistent. Each phone is scratched with hard tools, exposed to dust and grit, and subjected to direct flame on the display. The final stage is the one viewers wait for. Nelson attempts to bend the phone using nothing but his hands, applying pressure to see how well the structure holds together. Some devices survive with barely a mark. Others crack under stress. A few fail in dramatic fashion.
One of the most anticipated tests of the year involved Samsung’s first TriFold smartphone. Given its slim design and double hinge mechanism, many expected it to snap during the bend test. Surprisingly, it did not. The chassis remained intact despite heavy pressure. The display, however, did not survive the ordeal, becoming unresponsive by the end of the test. This made the TriFold the first Samsung phone to technically fail one of Nelson’s durability evaluations, even though the frame itself stayed together. You can watch a breakdown of that test on JerryRigEverything’s official YouTube channel.
Despite the screen failure, Nelson chose not to label the TriFold as the least durable phone of the year. That unwanted title went to Google’s Pixel 10 Pro Fold, which launched in October and arrived with bold claims about improved strength and durability.
During its bend test, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold became the first smartphone in JerryRigEverything history to literally explode. The failure occurred at a familiar weak point along the antenna line, an area where earlier Pixel Fold models had also broken in previous years. What frustrated Nelson most was that this design flaw appeared unchanged, despite Google publicly describing the phone as extremely durable during its launch presentation. Coverage of the Pixel 10 Pro Fold launch can still be found on Google’s official hardware pages.
Nelson did not hold back in his criticism. He pointed out that advertising durability without addressing a known structural weakness sends the wrong message to consumers who actually care about long term reliability. According to him, repeating the same antenna line placement after multiple past failures showed a lack of meaningful design improvement.
Speaking later in his annual phone awards video, Nelson expanded on that frustration. He acknowledged that most people who handle their phones carefully will probably never encounter such extreme damage. Still, he argued that manufacturers have a responsibility to fix known weak points, especially when those flaws have been publicly documented through repeated testing.
Not all the awards were negative. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the title for the most durable phone of 2025 went to the Tank 3 Pro, a rugged device built specifically to withstand abuse. While Nelson admitted that the Tank 3 Pro is not a mainstream smartphone, he still praised its construction and resistance to physical stress.
For users looking for a phone that balances durability with everyday usability, Nelson highlighted the OnePlus 15 as the most durable mainstream phone of the year. It performed exceptionally well across all stages of the test, holding up under scratches, heat, and bending without catastrophic failure.
Nelson’s full awards video showcases several other devices that stood out for both good and bad reasons, offering a rare behind the scenes look at how modern smartphones handle real physical stress rather than controlled lab conditions.
