More resistant to blunt impact and temperature swings.
Tempered glass is produced similarly to heat-strengthened glass: beginning as annealed glass and heated to approximately 1300°F. However, tempered glass is cooled more rapidly to create higher surface compression. This compression makes the glass more resistant to blunt impact and even more tolerant to temperature swings than heat-strengthened glass. Tempered glass is approximately four to five times stronger than annealed glass and is also known as safety glass due to its breakage pattern.
If tempered glass is impacted with enough force to break, the glass will shatter into countless small, slightly cube-shaped pieces that present less of a cutting hazard.