Ceramic Shield Vs. Gorilla Glass: Which Smartphone Protective Glass Is Stronger?

Phones are getting so durable that many argue there's practically no need for screen protectors anymore. While devices can certainly take more of a beating nowadays, this doesn't mean they're indestructible. Your phone screen's durability ultimately depends on the material it was made from. A good example is Sapphire glass, which is touted as a powerhouse against scratches, but is brittle compared to the popular Gorilla Glass.

Gorilla Glass and Ceramic Shield are the go-to protective glass options for Samsung and Apple. Both types are produced by Corning and present effective all-around solutions, making the Ceramic Shield vs. Gorilla Glass debate (and which one is stronger) quite tricky to settle. The company also hasn't made any direct comparisons between the two products, as it likely doesn't want to play favorites.

In short, both are equally effective, with Gorilla Glass being slightly more resistant to scratches. The iPhone 17 Pro drop tests were impressive thanks to Ceramic Shield 2. But despite its overall strength, it started showing scratches at level 6 on the Mohs scale of hardness, which is in line with the older Gorilla Glass Victus. In contrast, Gorilla Armor, used on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and subsequent Ultra variants, doesn't scratch until level 7. More impressively, the screen is safe from deeper abrasions until level 8.

Apple switched to Ceramic Shield starting with the iPhone 12. Both Apple and Corning claimed at the time that it offered double the strength of other protective glass. With Ceramic Shield, the secret sauce is ceramic nanocrystals embedded in the glass. The interlocked crystals deflect cracks, and the ionized glass strengthens the structure, helping avoid scratches and maintain structural integrity during heavy damage.

In the real world, this translates to superior drop protection and durability, especially under heavy pressure. That said, Ceramic Shield's scratch resistance is on par with older versions of Gorilla Glass. According to tests conducted by JerryRigEverything, the newer Ceramic Shield 2 on iPhone 17 Pro models is comparable to Gorilla Glass Victus. Scratches appear at level 6 on the Mohs hardness scale, with level 7 leading to deeper abrasions. JerryRigEverything states that despite the marks being there, they're hardly visible on the glass.

Users echo this sentiment and are generally satisfied with Ceramic Shield 2 on the latest iPhones. The durability is there, but many owners stress that scratches are nearly impossible to avoid. Thus, a screen protector is a necessary sacrifice to maintain a pristine look.

Gorilla Glass has been around since the early days of smartphones and has gone through countless improvements since. In simple terms, Gorilla Glass is created through ion exchange, where Corning uses molten salt at a high temperature to allow sodium ions in water to evaporate. Large potassium ions from salt then replace the smaller ions, producing a strong exterior layer. For instance, Victus 2 can withstand drops of up to 2 meters (including 1-meter drops onto concrete), while its scratch resistance is comparable to Ceramic Shield. However, the new-and-improved Gorilla Armor now also uses ceramic material, which gives it some extra strength.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra drop tests were disappointing, which was likely due to the device's square corners, which didn't help prevent cracks. But, they did show that the first iteration of Gorilla Armor was significantly more resistant to scratches. Tests show that significant scratches appeared at level 7, with deep abrasions beginning at level 8 of the Mohs scale.

The next version, Gorilla Armor 2, can survive drops to concrete up to 2.2 meters, representing a massive jump when compared with the basic Gorilla Glass. Plus, it also retained the scratch-resistance of its predecessor, which makes it slightly easier to declare the winner in the Ceramic Shield vs. Gorilla Glass comparison. Both protective glass materials go neck and neck, save for Gorilla's enhanced scratch-resistance.