Once upon a time, Android Authority would be one of the world’s first to buy a new device and then immediately film a drop test to see how the latest and greatest would hold up. (Here’s a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 being dropped from back in 2012)

Also taking a robust approach to durability over the years has been YouTuber JerryRigEverything. 

• Zack Nelson with the luxurious voice has made a name for himself, among good deeds and interesting tech videos, by being the home of durability tests on his YouTube channel.
• Those generally include bending, scraping, burning, opening, and mostly being a hazard to devices with poor build quality.
• But the videos of new devices are always interesting in order to see repairability, connectors, battery designs, and more.

Anyway, once again, JerryRig has released awards for 2020 for smartphone durability, and there’s a range of awards here for durability, repairability and more:

• Most durable smartphone: Google Pixel 4a
• Least durable: OnePlus Nord, with the display breaking entirely under pressure.
• Most repairable: Google Pixel 5, with zero screws needed to get inside and replace the display.
• Least repairable: BlackShark 3, due to all its heat pipes and fancy build to keep it cool for gaming. Which is great as long as you don’t break it.
• Best looking smartphone on the inside: iPhone 12 Pro Max. Not much to say, it does have nice looking internals which ideally you never see.
• And the other award I wanted to mention: Most delusive smartphone: Google Pixel 5. 
• Yes, “delusive,” an award handed out for bad or sort of misleading marketing. The Pixel 5 won it because Google more or less promised over and over, including in its spec sheet, a “100% recycled aluminum enclosure,” …while not mentioning that metal is under a thick layer of plastic resin. Not a huge problem, but this is an attempt to keep manufacturers honest.

The Pixel 4a winning the most durable, despite the plastic finish and light feel, surprises a little, but it makes sense.

• Without being encased in glass on both the front and the back, the Pixel 4a was strong enough to withstand durability tests. 
• It also has an easy to swap screen, it kept the headphone jack, wasn’t overly slippery, and remained solid right out of the box without a case, even at the attractive price.
• Our (second) review of the Pixel 4a mentioned that you don’t need a case, which is the opposite of the usual problem where a gorgeous looking new smartphone with glass and metal everywhere needs to be tucked away into a case, and maybe with a layer of protective glass added, just to keep it safe.