Affordable phones do not need to be brittle. Corning has announced the Gorilla Glass 7i, designed for mid-range phones. The design could be similar to the other 23rd generation glass used on many premium smartphones, like the Galaxy S7, Gorilla Glass Victus.

In a press release, Corning announced the release of their latest glass, which the company says is "a new cover glass designed to provide improved durability for mobile devices in the middle and value segments.""Gorilla Glass7i is said to offer better drop and scratch performance compared to other manufacturers' competitive lithium aluminosilicate glass."

Corning has broken down the test results of the new glass and said that Gorilla Glass 7i survived up to 1 meter drops on the surface replicating asphalt Competitive lithium aluminosilicate glass from other manufacturers usually failed when falling from less than half a meter. According to Corning, the new Gorilla Glass7i is up to 2 times more scratch resistant than its competitors. 

Currently, there are several different generations of Gorilla glass, and it's not uniform which phones are using it. For example, Nothing phone2a comes with Gorilla Glass, which was launched in 2016, while Pixel8a comes with Gorilla Glass3. So it's good to see companies introducing cheaper and sustainable versions of their glass for more affordable phones. 

We recently saw how tough Gorilla Glass is in a Galaxy S24Ultra durability test by Jack Nelson of Jerryrigeverything on 8. Tests have found that the Galaxy S24Ultra's screen is very resistant to scratches and cuts, with slight markings on the 7 of the scale and deep scratches on the 8. For reference, the channel's typical score has scratched at the level 6 of a recent smartphone. Hopefully, the Gorilla Glass7i can bring a similar level of durability to mid-range phones.

Overall, this is a positive development, but none of which the glass will not be damaged. So, it is still worth buying a case and taking care of your phone. On that note, we have a list of 5 tips to keep your phone safe.