Samsung’s Galaxy S II Beats the iPhone 4S — At Least When You Drop Them

While most reviews focus on comparing features or performance, another way to compare leading smartphones is just to drop them from shoulder height and see which survives.

That’s the method preferred by the folks at SquareTrade, who sell insurance for all manner of electronics.

As they have done with past Apple gear, they went out, bought the latest iPhone and dropped it until its screen was a cracked mess. This time, though, they compared it with Samsung’s Galaxy S II — probably the nearest competitor saleswise to the iPhone when it comes to the leading smartphones.

In this test, which was limited to dropping one phone apiece, the Galaxy S II fared considerably better, surviving both a shoulder-height drop and a face-down fall. The iPhone, meanwhile, got considerable damage even in a waist-high drop and saw its screen thoroughly wrecked when dropped face down onto concrete.

While the tests are clearly designed as a push for insurance for those 4 million new iPhone owners, they also make the case for a nice protective holder for the Siri-packing smartphones.