Kyocera shows us how tough its Sapphire Shield display is

Last week, Kyocera and Verizon released the Brigadier, the first smartphone in the US to use a sapphire crystal display. The new handset’s screen has a special name - Sapphire Shield - and is exclusively manufactured by Kyocera.

To show us just how tough the Sapphire Shield display is, Kyocera today released a video that compares a Brigadier featuring this display to a version of the device that comes with “impact-resistant glass” instead. Both variants are scratched with granite, and also dropped onto granite. The Sapphire Shield survives with no damage whatsoever, but the impact-resistant glass is seriously damaged in both cases. Kyocera doesn’t say exactly what “impact-resistant glass” means, but it doesn’t seem to be Gorilla Glass (which may have fared better during the tests).

While the Sapphire Shield display is a Kyocera exclusive, this doesn’t mean that other companies can’t make different types of sapphire screens. Apple will most likely use sapphire for the display of the upcoming iPhone 6, making the new handset significantly tougher than previous models. Anyway, until the new iPhone is announced, take a look at Kyocera’s Sapphire Shield display below - for a peek at what seems to be one of the toughest smartphone screens ever.