Sapphire is considered the gold standard for smartphone materials. The material scratches at a level 8 of Moh’s hardness scale. Sapphire for long has been used in luxury items giving off little to no scratches on the surface when the product is used regularly. Many smartphones have also adopted the material as a substitute for tempered glass and it has worked efficiently. Xiaomi on the other hand, a brand not known for its premium products claimed to have placed sapphire glass at the back of the Mi 9.
JerryRigEverything as always put Xiaomi’s word to the test and in his durability test of the device scratched the back cover of the Mi 9 only to find out that the Mi 9, in fact, scratches at a level 6 of Moh’s hardness scale just like any other tempered glass. Now, before we jump to conclusions, Apple for a long period of time has claimed to have put real sapphire on their touch ID fingerprint sensor and the back glass cover but both the covers ended up getting scratched at a level 6.
After a little digging, we found out that the sapphire glass used in the protection of the cameras is not entirely sapphire and consists of impurities mixed with glass. Truth is that pure synthetic sapphire is quite expensive to produce and having a sapphire glass crystal greatly improves the durability standard of the glass. In this case, however, there are tiny atoms of sapphire crystals mixed with silicon dioxide which give it its enhanced scratch resistance.
Despite all that, a premium device should and must house a proper sapphire crystal although expensive but a 5 starred durability factor. The Mi 9 is Xiaomi’s pinnacle and having such issues doesn’t really help them in their case. Although when put under the test, the glass did show traces of sapphire. Xiaomi shouldn’t bother giving false hope to consumers if the product
