“One of the vital items of suggestions we offer to the design workforce is on what’s referred to as the design margin of the product,” Ajay says. “For instance, we ask, ‘What number of extra drops can this cellphone take? If 90% of customers drop their telephones a sure variety of occasions a yr, how can we construct one thing that survives much more than that?’ And these selections are particularly vital as we construct telephones to final even longer.”
Whereas the workforce may dream up any form of take a look at, they root their testing in sensible eventualities. “We take a look at for issues like excessive altitude — what occurs to our telephones at 14,000 toes, for example, as a result of if there’s an unpressurized plane that’s transporting our telephones, we don’t need them to interrupt,” Ajay says. “However testing what would occur if a cellphone fell out of a airplane — for curiosity’s sake? Certain, it is a enjoyable take a look at to consider, however that’s not a use case that occurs usually sufficient price designing a complete product round.”
Nonetheless, the sensible exams the groups conduct may assist our gadgets survive extra outlandish eventualities, if (and when) they arrive up. That may clarify how the 2 Pixel telephones survived their time within the snow. The workforce exams how our gadgets survive at temperatures starting from -30ºC (-22ºF) to 75ºC (167ºF), for example, to assist see what’s going to occur if you unintentionally depart your cellphone out within the solar on a sizzling summer time’s day, or topic your Pixel to speedy temperature adjustments if you depart your toasty house for the frigid open air within the winter.
Equally, whereas snow isn’t on the testing docket, the Pixel 6a that Andrew left outdoors for six months was licensed (with an ingress safety ranking) for water and dirt resistance. “So the telephones are comparatively sealed from the weather, the snow cowl stored them comparatively protected, and the charging circuit was most definitely disabled, saving the battery,” Ajay says. “Our telephones aren’t designed for that state of affairs, however the whole lot else they’re examined and designed for may assist them survive.”
So, ought to all of us begin throwing our telephones at partitions or leaving them within the wilderness? “I wouldn’t advocate it,” Ajay says with fun. “We do not need to let individuals really feel like they will do something with our merchandise, however it’s superb to shock them when one thing dangerous does occur, and but their cellphone survives. That second after they decide up their cellphone and so they don’t see a damaged show or the digital camera works — that’s the place the delight is.”
