'LG V20' Shatter Gate Issue; Camera Glass Shattering Under Normal Use?

With the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 recall already behind us, another Korean company has a looming grey cloud over their heads. LG Corporation, a South Korean company recently released its new flagship phone, LG V20 and it looks like there's an impending issue right around the corner.

Several reports in Android Central forums have experienced glass covering the camera breaking after small drops even with an Otterbox case. The user claims, "V20 in Otterbox Defender case dropped FRONT face down on carpet, then REAR camera glass cracked!" The phone had an Otterbox Defender case, dropped at 2.5 feet landed on a carpet face down, and to his surprise, the camera glass broke, but the glass screen was intact.

Another forum in Reddit collated eight of the cases of LG V20 breaking under different circumstances. In a YouTube video, JerryRigEverything tried scratching the camera glass of the phone. After leaving a small abrasion from the pick, the camera lens shatters on its own. "I foresee this being a problem down the road with the LG V20 since a small abrasion can weaken the glass considerably," says JerryRigEverything. He recommends leaving the glass protector on, since a small abrasion can easily crack the glass.

Reddit rounded up 8 different reports of cracking and shattering LG V20 camera glass. One was from JerryRigEverything which deliberately scratched the glass but accidentally cracked by itself, three were camera glass shattering from unknown reasons, one was leaving the flashlight on for 30 minutes, two were set on the desk without a case, and one dropped with an Otterbox case.

While these cases are not yet substantial to be considered a "shatter gate" scandal as of yet, the increasing number of cases is already a red flag. So, better armor up the LG V20 before the shatter gate issue shoots up.