In this article we are going to tell you about the testing of the cell phone Samsung E1080i. It is a saleable economy version which was put on the market in the beginning of 2010. The phone is thin and light. The streamline form of the panel with the rounded corners makes it easy and comfortable to keep the phone in a pocket. As any economy version the phone has a standard function package.

In the delivery set of the phone (pic. 2) there was a charger, the manual, the check and some labels with the serial number of this device.

The results

1. Stage 1 – mild exposure

1.1 Dropping down

At first we decided to test the phone on its stability after been dropped down. This experiment is divided into 2 parts: dropping down on a soft surface and on a hard surface. As a soft surface we used a carpet with the height of the nap 5mm, as a hard surface we had a floor covered with ceramic tiles. We dropped the phone down so that it hit the floor with its 6 sides (4 edges, the front side and the backside).

We dropped the phone down on the carpet from 1m (video 1). Rounded corners of the phone made it jump aside from the contact point with the carpet at a distance of half a meter. As we thought the gadget passed this test successfully.  The battery cover was not shifted, the phone did not switch off and was never out of the coverage.

It deserves 30 points from 30 possible.

We dropped down the phone on the hard floor from 30cm height (video 2).  The battery cover of the phone slid off. But it is not surprising because the battery cover is big and heavy enough to slide off the catches under its own inertia. But for the battery cover the phone passed the test well. No damage was found.

It deserves 20 points from 30 possible

1.2 Endurance

In order to check how time may change the external view of this cell phone we put it into a centrifuge for 10 minutes with some small plastic balls inside. The speed of the centrifuge rotation was about 500 turns per minute. The radius of the cylinder was 75mm.

After we took the phone out of the cylinder we saw some sharp worn spots on the front panel and on the glossy rear panel. But there were no scratches on the display because the streamline form of the panel and the plastic edges along the display protected it from the balls inside the centrifuge. You can see the result in the pic.5-7.

It deserves 10 from 15 possible

1.3 Stability to scratching

With the help of a nail we made some scratches on the panel and on the display. We pressed upon the panel with the force of 5kg/cm2 and upon the display 2kg/cm2.

The plastic panel was soft and the scratch that we made was quite visible though we had pressed not too heavily upon the panel. But there were no scratches on the display.

You can see the pictures of this test after the stage 3 (pic.23-25)

The display deserves 15 from 15 possible
The panel deserves 5 from 15 possible

1.4 Stability to bending

In this test the phone was placed between the two bars so that 1centimetre of both ends of this gadget laid on the brinks of the bars. A rope with the attached load was thrown over the middle side of the phone. The load weighed 3kg.
The phone easily carried this load. We heard the noise of the buttons pressed by the bars. The battery cover squeaked a bit but after the test was over the phone operated well and no mechanical damage was found.
The phone deserves 16 from 24 possible

1.5 Stability to squeezing

We put the phone on a flat surface and then placed the load of 5kg on it. The phone easily carried this load. We heard the noise of the buttons pressed by the load. The phone was switched off when the power button was pressed. There were no troubles, no squeaking noise.

The mark is 24 (from 24possible)

1.6 Lower temperature

The test was carried out in a freezing chamber in -26.11 °F. The time of the experiment was 60 minutes. When the time was over we took the phone out of the freezing chamber and it operated as good as it did before. The battery was as full as it was before. The phone easily identified the coverage, the loudspeaker was good and the microphone worked nicely. But there were some troubles with the display. It took approximately a second to change the image on the display.

The mark is 12 from 18 possible

1.7 Higher temperature

In this test we placed the phone under the lamp of 60Wt power. The distance between the phone and the lamp was 5cm. Direct rays of the lamp heated the phone for 3 minutes.

After 3 minute exposure the display became faded. But the image on it was quite clear. In some minutes our device functioned well again. No damage was caused by higher temperature.

The mark is 8 from 12 possible

1.8 Dust proofness of the panel

In this test we checked dust proofness of the phone. Our gadget was placed into a container full of domestic dust. We closed this container and shook it with the phone and dust inside for 2 minutes.

It is hard to clean the phone from dust. You can’t clean all the dust between the buttons with a cloth, you really need a brush. There was some dust under the rear panel but there was no dust under the battery which is firmly attached to the phone. The gaps between the battery and the phone are too little.

Our mark is 8 from 12 possible

1.9 Exceeding voltage supply

For this test the phone was attached to the adjustable EPU. We exceeded the voltage supply gradually from 4 volts (the basic voltage supply) to 4,5 volts.

The phone could easily bear this overvoltage and consumed the same amount of energy.
Our mark is 15 from 15 possible

1.10 The quality of receiving the calls

In normal working conditions the phone identifies 100% of the coverage – all the points of the indicator are displayed. The signal level did not lower more than by half even in a basement. After the 1st stage of our stress test the connection of the phone to the base station was good – no breaks, no sound errors.

Our mark for the ability of the phone to receive the calls in normal working conditions is 15 from 15 possible
Our mark for the ability of the phone to receive the calls in a basement is 10 from 15 possible
Overall score for the 1st stage of our stress test is 188 from 240 possible

Stage 2 – Mean force of exposure

2.1 Dropping down

At this stage we are going to make the same stress test as we did before but we change the height from which the phone is going to be dropped down. In this experiment we dropped the phone down on the carpet from 1,5m and from 0,5m on the floor covered with ceramic tiles.

Generally this experiment was similar to the previous one. After been dropped down the phone was safe and operable, no damage was found. The gadget functioned as well as before the test.

It gets 30 points from 30 possible

The consequences were absolutely the same as those that we had at the 1st stage. The rear panel also slid off at the 1st drop but there were no other troubles any more. The panel was not damaged and the gadget worked nicely. You can watch all the testing on video 4.

It gets 20 points from 20 possible

2.2 Endurance

The time inside the centrifuge was increased from 10 to 15 minutes. After this test we hardly noticed newly made scratches and worn spots because the panel had been already scratched. This test did not change the look of the phone much.

It gets 10 points from 15 possible

2.3 Stability to scratching

The force with which we pressed upon the panel was 10kg/cm2 and upon the display 5kg/cm2. It is more than in the previous stage.

A new scratch appeared on the panel near the old one. This scratch was deeper.
The scratch on the display was also more noticeable.

The display gets 5 points from 15 possible
The panel gets 5 points from 15 possible

2.4 Stability to bending

In this test the weight of the load was 5kg. In the course of the test the rear panel squeaked. After the test the phone operated well, no damage was found.

It deserves 16 points from 24 possible

2.5 Stability to squeezing

The load placed on the phone weighed 10kg. It did not damage the phone. In general the results of this test were almost like those in the previous one.

It deserves 24 points from 24 possible

2.6 Lower temperature

After spending 2 hours in a freezing chamber in -26.11 °F the phone functioned well. We easily made a call. The microphone and the loudspeaker were good enough. There were the same troubles with the display as in the previous stage. Patina appeared on the panel and on the display. But it disappeared after 15 minute drying.

It deserves12 points from 18 possible

2.7 Higher temperature

We placed the phone for 5 minutes in immediate proximity under the lamp of 60Wt power. Higher temperature made the display faded and almost unreadable. In some minutes the display started to function as good as before and then we could use the phone.

In picture 13 you can see the display after having been heated.

It deserves 8 points from 12 possible

2.8 Dust proofness of the panel

In this test we checked dust proofness of the phone. Our gadget was placed into a container full of domestic dust. We closed this container and shook it with the phone and dust inside for 3 minutes. After the phone was taken out we analyzed the consequences of dust influence on the phone. You can see the gadget inside the container full of dust in picture 14 .The results of the dust testing and its impact on the phone can be seen in pictures 15-18.

The plastic battery cover which protects the inner parts of the phone from dust failed to do the job. There was some dust inside the phone and the firmly attached cover did not save. It was very hard to clean the dust from the fleecy material which covered the loudspeaker. In the result of this test we found some dust under the battery (pic.18).

It gets 4 points from 12 possible

In the 2nd part of this experiment we are going to check water resistance of the phone by putting it into distilled water for 1 second. You can watch it on video 5. The result of this test can be seen in pictures 19, 20.

Some water penetrated into the loudspeaker and into the microphone and caused a lot of troubles. The phone failed to produce sound and voice of a calling person was hardly heard. But after the gadget got dried for half an hour all functions of the loudspeaker and the microphone were restored.  Though water got under the battery cover there was no water under the battery itself. That is why the electric circuits of the phone functioned efficiently even immediately after it was taken out of the water.

It gets 20 points from 30 possible

2.9 Exceeding voltage supply

For this test the phone was attached to the adjustable EPU. We were exceeding gradually the voltage supply from 4 volts to 5 volts.

The phone could easily bear this overvoltage and consumed the same 30 mA of energy.
You can see this experiment on video at the 3rd stage of our stress test (video 13).

It gets 15 points from 15 possible

2.10 The quality of receiving the calls

The quality of receiving the calls did not change and remained the same as before. So the phone gets the same points.

Our mark for the ability of the phone to receive the calls in normal working conditions is 15 from 15 possible
Our mark for the ability of the phone to receive the calls in a basement is 10 from 15 possible
Overall score for the 2nd stage of our stress test is 194 from 270 possible

3. Acute exposure

3.1 Dropping down

In his phase of our stress test the phone was dropped down from 2m height on a soft surface and from 1m height on the floor covered with ceramic tiles. On video 6 you can see all the experiment of dropping the phone down on the carpet. The rear panel often sled off during this test. In spite of this the phone did not switch off and was always on the coverage. The battery was attached firmly during the testing. After the experiment was over we could easily made a call from this phone as we did before. No damage was found.

It gets 30 points from 30 possible

It is strange but after been dropped down on the floor covered with ceramic tiles the phone operated better than after been dropped down on the carpet. The rear panel sled off only once. No other troubles were noticed. The phone remained switched on and was always on the coverage. The scratches on the panel were unnoticeable in comparison with the scratches made by the centrifuge.

It gets 20 points from 30 possible

3.2 Endurance

At the 3rd stage of our stress test the phone was put into the centrifuge for 20 minutes. After we took it out the new worn spots on the display were noticed only in the light and it did not spoil the image very much (pic. 21). We could easily notice worn spots and dimples along the edges of the phone. You can also see some larger dimples made by dropping the phone down.

It gets 10 points from 15 possible

3.3 Stability to scratching

The force with which we pressed upon the panel was of 15kg/cm2 and upon the display 10kg/cm2. It is more than in the previous stage.

A new scratch appeared near the old one on the rear panel. So after this test there were 3 deep scratches on the backside of the phone (pic.23)

The scratch on the display was deep and noticeable enough. It spoiled the picture on the display (pic.24).
We tried to scratch the buttons but we failed to do it because they were made of rubber. We could only deform the keyboard and tear off two pieces of material cover (pic.25).  Under the cover we saw white rubber.

It gets 5 points from 15 possible

3.4 Stability to bending

In this test the load weighed 10kg.
The rear panel squeaked during the experiment. You can see a slight bend of the phone in picture 26. After the testing the phone worked well. No damage was found.

It gets 16 points from 24 possible

3.5 Stability to squeezing

We increased the mass of the load placed on the phone to 20kg. Even this load did not damage the phone. The rear panel was ok, it did not slid off the catches. No unpleasant noise, no squeak, no crackle. But the power button was pressed as it was in the previous test and the phone switched off (when we put the load on the switched off phone the load pressed the power button and the phone switched on).

It deserves 24 points from 24 possible

3.6 Lower temperature

We increased the time of keeping the phone in the freezing chamber to 3 hours. After we took it out there were some troubles with the picture on the display (video 8). All the other functions were good enough and after the gadget got the room temperature the picture on the display was restored.

It deserves 12 points from 18 possible

3.7 Higher temperature

We placed the phone for 15 minutes in the immediate proximity under the lamp of 60Wt power.

The result of overheating is showed in pictures 27-29. The keyboard became soft and increased in volume and bulged a little out of the panel. The display was absolutely unreadable and it did not fully get better even after cooling (pic.29).  The display glass melted a bit in its lower part. We could notice it by irregular reflection.

It deserves 4 points from 12 possible

3.8 Dust proofness of the panel

We increased the time of the dust test to 4 minutes. The result is the same as it was in stage 2. We saw dust on the loudspeaker, on the microphone, in the gaps, under the rear panel and under the battery.

It gets 4 from 12 possible

In the 2nd part of the experiment we put the phone into distilled water. This time we kept it there for 10 seconds (video 9). During this test the illumination went on spontaneously because the water had a contact with electronic parts of the phone (with the slot for a headset with a microphone as we think).

The water penetrated not only under the rear panel but also under the battery (pic.30-31).

After the phone got dried it functioned well again as it did before this test.

The phone gets 30 from 30 possible

The 3rd and the last test on water resistance was a bit different. We decided to put the phone into beer for 3 seconds (video 10).

The result was the same when the gadget got into water. 3 seconds was not enough time for beer to penetrate into important electronic parts of the phone. We washed the phone and it operated well.
No corrosion was found on the metallic parts of the phone.

The phone gets 6 from 9 possible

3.9 Exceeding voltage supply

The short circuit of the charger did not disable it. The phone was charged as good as before (video 11).

The phone gets 15 from 15 possible

Battery protection also worked well. The voltage of the battery was the same as before the short circuit (video 12).

It deserves 15 points from 15 possible

The voltage supply was exceeded from 4 to 6 volts. When it was more than 5,5 volts we noticed that the gadget consumed much more energy. It proved that the phone was out of regulatory control. It is not surprising because the phone was not made to bear such overwork. All in all the phone bore 6 volts and did not fail to operate (video 13).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiA8xmHpOyk

It deserves 10 points from 15 possible

3.10 The quality of receiving the calls

After all the tests we checked the signal level in normal conditions – it was the same as before the tests. In bad working conditions (in a blind room with the walls made of concrete) the signal level was worse but the connection was stable and good.

Our mark for the ability of the phone to receive the calls in normal working conditions is 15 from 15 possible
Our mark for the ability of the phone to receive the calls in a blind room is 10 from 15 possible

3.11 Summary

After our stress test the phone remained operable. There were a lot of worn spots on the panel, but there were no gaps between the flaps of the phone. The rear panel was still very firmly attached. The quality of receiving the calls did not worsen.

In order to make the proper analysis we took the phone apart (pic.32-34). We saw some dust inside the phone. The main electronic components were under protective metal shield (pic. 34). The processor and controller were compound-filled. It protected them from moisture and mechanical damage. But these components are under the keyboard and this is not a safe place because the pressed buttons touch them.

Generally speaking the cell phone Samsung E1080i is quite good. The phone is thin and light. It has a streamline form of the panel which makes a drop down on the floor not a serious problem. The phone has a good signal level in any premises no matter how far it is from the base station. The relatively small display is the advantage and the disadvantage at the same time. It consumes few energy which increases the time of working regime. The sound is loud and clear as in all Samsung cell phones. Its weak points are the display sensitivity to lower temperature and a useless plug.

Overall score for the 3rd stage of our stress test is 241 from 339 possible
Overall score for the all stress test is 623 from 849 possible

Stress test of the cell phone Samsung E1080i (73 points from possible 100), 9.7 out of 10 based on 3 ratings