Corning’s Gorilla Glass is one of the most popular brands of glass protection around in 2023, with the tech used in most – though admittedly not all – smartphones.
But what exactly is Gorilla Glass, why is it so important and what’s the deal with the latest version of Gorilla Glass, Victus 2? We break down everything you need to know about the toughened smartphone glass right here.
What is Gorilla Glass?
Corning’s Gorilla Glass is, in its simplest form, a brand of strengthened glass used in tech like smartphones designed to be thin, light and most importantly, damage-resistant. This comes both in the form of scratch resistance and drop protection. Considering it’s usually the display that breaks when dropping a phone, it’s a very important part of phone manufacturing.
It’s not new tech though; in fact, Corning started experiments on chemically strengthened glass way back in 1960, though the research didn’t pick up any real speed until 2005. Fun fact: the first-ever iPhone released in 2007 used Corning’s Gorilla Glass, though it didn’t have the Gorilla Glass branding then.
Fast forward to today and there have been eight generations of Gorilla Glass, each improving the durability of the screen protector, with the latest and greatest being Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
What’s new with Gorilla Glass Victus 2?
According to Corning, the latest iteration of its Victus glass protection tech specialises in protection against a smartphone’s worst enemy: concrete. Y’know, the material that’s pretty much everywhere.
Per Corning, the upgraded Victus 2 glass protection survived “drops of up to one meter on a surface replicating concrete” in lab testing. This should give consumers added peace of mind that their phones won’t completely shatter when hitting a hard surface.
Of course, that’s only 1 meter from the ground – aka waist height depending on how tall you are – so it might not survive if you drop it from chest- or head height. It’s not something I’d feel confident testing, anyway.
It is worth noting that, according to Corning’s research, competitors failed when falling from half a meter or less, and the company insists that it should survive drops of up to 2 meters on a surface like asphalt, so that’s something at least.
Despite the improved rigidity of the second-gen Victus glass, Corning claims that it maintains the same level of scratch resistance as the first-gen Victus screen tech.
Which phones use the Victus 2 glass protection?
With Gorilla Glass Victus 2 making its debut in early 2023, it should come as no surprise that it isn’t available on that many smartphones just yet – though with the vast majority of 2022 flagships using the last-gen Victus glass, it’s safe to assume that most 2023 flagships (including the iPhone 15 and Pixel 8) will use the glass at release.
For now, here’s a list of some of the phones that use Gorilla Glass Victus 2:
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.