Scuffgate – Anodised Aluminium does not scuff so easily on the N8 as it does on iPhone 5

| September 26, 2012 | 25 Replies

 

This morning we talked about the torture test on the Nokia Lumia 900, surviving all the usual bangs and knocks that would kill lesser phones.

http://mynokiablog.com/2012/09/26/video-nokia-lumia-900-torture-test/

I mentioned in that post about something the blogosphere has named ‘scuffgate’ where new iPhones are appearing with scuffs to the anodised aluminium out of the box and are scratching really easily on scratch tests.

Apple’s Phil Schiller was then reported to say that is a completely normal thing so essentially, users have nothing to worry about. Well it’s true that even the N8′s anodized aluminium CAN get scratched. BUT that was only from heavy abuse. In  these scratch tests, similar to iPhone 5 and worse, the N8 fares so much better. In the N8, if you scratch it, you can rub the scratch away. The weakest part for me was the silly chromed bezel bit which was prone to paint chipping. The anodised aluminium bit was much tougher.

http://mynokiablog.com/2010/06/14/video-nokia-n8-scratch-test-with-shiny-media/

As cool as it is to have a metal phone, I love having a matte polycarbonate material. It truly is that colour throughout the device so that if you did scratch it, it is really hard to see And it’s quite difficult to scratch in the first place. My N9/800 looks absolutely pristine compared to my first N8. 

Nokia’s polycarbonate is very different to your bargain basement plastic. Nokia’s anodised aluminium seems to be different to what’s seen in the iPhone 5.

Cheers Peter L for the tip!

Category: Nokia

About the Author ()

Hey, thanks for reading my post. My name is Jay and I'm a medical student at the University of Manchester. When I can, I blog here at mynokiablog.com and tweet now and again @jaymontano. We also have a twitter and facebook accounts @mynokiablog and  Facebook.com/mynokiablog. Check out the tips, guides and rules for commenting >>click<< Contact us at tips(@)mynokiablog.com or email me directly on jay[at]mynokiablog.com

Comments (25)

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  1. what a pathetic response from Apple. People spend over £500 on these things, all they can say is, “tough s**t”. Or words to that effect.

  2. Bloob says:

    No visible scratches on my E7 even after some abuse, then again, it’s the silver one.

  3. stylinred says:

    i made a note about this in some iphone topics where people are arguing about the debacle with the iphone5 being chipped/scratched out of the box

    My N8 is going on 2 years now and I don’t have a scratch or chip on the aluminum (the plastic bezel and top/end pieces sure) and this is with dropping the n8 a lot.. a lot on many surfaces, including concrete, and from many heights

    Apple must have done a very very cost effective job on their anodising if its anodised at all and not merely painted

    • Dave says:

      I have some minor removal of the anodized coating on my N8 – but only minimal (having had the phone resting on slate tiles a lot, and being moved around).

      Did try the keys scratch test earlier on it – couldn’t get anything off ….

      The only caveat on the build of the N8 is the plastic on the top and bottom – both of those easily get damaged.

  4. Shaun says:

    Not only N8s but you’ve just got to run a key across the components and some frames of mountain bikes to realise Apple are full of shit when they claim anodised aluminium scratches easily.

    I once met the manufacturer of a high end bike company who quite proudly got a screwdriver out and gouged the anodising on his frame. Not a single scratch. I’ve got chain rings that are years old that don’t have scratches on them and I live in an area where the mud is best described as ‘gritstone in a sandy watery slurry’.

    Apple have used very thin, soft anodising when they should have used the type of hard anodising used on bike components, and Nokia N8s.

    • JGrove303 says:

      Preach it, brother. The annodize on all my bike components is still in top form. Though none of my parts are hard annodized, neither is the N8. If thry were that would be bitchen, as the aluminum its self would be even stronger, but you would only be able to have a black or dark bronze color.

      Apple’s annodize process seems to be just enough to get a little dye into to aluminum oxide substrate, were as the process they used on the 4S’s frame was at the level of the Nokias.

  5. FireDragon says:

    What most funny was Apple’s response to the whole situation. And My thought same about this chipping problem.

    N8 is like god-like compare to iPhone 5 in this matter.

    My both silver and black N8 are nearly as new as day one. Well silver one that was my sisters was used rough and show its age slightly but still nothing serious, nothing even slightly serious at all. Mine still looks as new, fresh out of box.

    • Chris says:

      I just spoke to my colleague a while ago, who happens to be an iphone user, about how easily scratchable is the iphone 5.

      Let’s just say I find it really scary on way he defended it, saying it’s impossible to scratch because it’s anodised aluminum, and refuse to accept any view whatsoever suggesting iphone 5 is less than perfect…

      I’m better off not talking about iphone in the future from now on… I’m not good at handling those types :P

  6. Jimi says:

    LOL LOL LOL LOL cant eny more LOL LOL LOL ……..Americans.

  7. Carbontubby says:

    Nokia may be utter crap at making software but they’re still kings of hardware. I’ve dropped my bare E7 a few times on to concrete and tarmac, sometimes landing with the glass face down, and I end up getting scratches on the plastic end caps. The aluminium is unmarked. Fantastic :)

    It’s a disgrace for Apple to use such thin anodizing on such an expensive phone and call it normal. It’s even more disheartening when a few million people ordered an iPhone 5 sight unseen. And this is the company that slapped glass on the front and back of a phone and made it really hard to repair…

  8. Sonny says:

    Does anyone with an n8 also have their paint come of on the edge part of the camera hump ?

  9. Tiago Silva says:

    Nokia has always taken build quality very seriously.

    http://everythingnokia.com/nokia-n8-is-tough-drop-test-results/

    The first iPhone failed Nokia’s drop tests.

  10. manchester man says:

    Iv’e repaired lots of nokia n8s bought from ebay and some off them have been in a right state.
    The ones i used only had dints around the bezel.

    My 808 has bounced on concrete and is still scratch free, but i sure miss the organic cold to the touch n8.

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