Debate: Best phone material - plastic vs. metal vs. glass?

Ceramic is great—almost unscratchable—but it's very brittle; you risk chipping it or shattering it altogether.

I prefer a quality plastic back with a little texture. Glass and metal are slippery and I think most people slap a case on their phones to get some grip (and drop protection),which covers up the "premium" look of the phone supposedly provided by glass and metal backs.

Plastic with a removable back

I was slightly late to the game because of phone plan pricing, and my first smartphone was the HTC Droid DNA... it felt great in my hand with its plastic back. After that, I had the HTC One, which also felt amazing with its metal back. After that, I had the LG G2 and G3. The G3 was the only phone I've had that ever felt too big. The G2 felt right in my hand, but the plastic material didn't impress. After that, I've had a range Samsung, Apple, and even Google's Pixel 6... Most of them LOOKED pretty, but I don't think any of them matched the comfort of the HTC soft touch plastic or curved metal.

I get it, glass doesn't stop the cell signal... and it doesn't scratch as easily as some other materials. But let's be honest, we'd all rather have a scratched back than a broken back. If we can't have metal, bring back premium plastics. I've never liked having to put an ugly case over a pretty phone, and a plastic back would make a lighter phone, and could be curved to fit the hand better.

Glass for me, provided that I will always slap a plastic case on them anyway.

You buy many cars that don't come standard with tires? Or with fancy looking wheel surfaces that can't be seen under a tire?

At this point this is almost like just having a case but I'd like a replaceable back for the freedom of using different materials (textured plastic like on the LG V10, sandstone OnePlus One, leather like LG G4, aramid, fabric, fiber, Kevlar, rubber, etc, etc) but the replaceable back would wrap all around until it meets the screen (no frame exposed) kinda like the iPhone 5c, so the back can be replaced if it's dropped in concrete and get deep scratches or scuffs like aluminum or steel frames currently do.

At the moment, I have the OEM leather case and the textured TPU case ringke onyx for the S23U and I like both cases/textures depending on how I'm feeling.

If I have to pick just one non-replaceable material for the back, I’d prioritize durability and would choose a high impact resistant, and scratch resistant polymer matrix composite such as CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced polymer) composite or at least GFRP (glass fiber reinforced polymer), which would be a bit cheaper. 

Then on the screen Kunlun Glass or better.

Rubberized plastic is fine for cases, but I don't feel it works as well for a rigid structure... How do you feel about soft touch plastics?

Then why glass?

Accessory - a thing which can be added to something else in order to make it more useful, versatile, or attractive.

"If it NEEDS an accessory, it's a failed design."

1. Cellphones don't actually need accessories. I've seen many cases (pun intended) where people have bought cellphones & have never used a case, wired or wireless headset, portable battery or any other accessory that's available for it.
2. So what you're saying is things like cellphones, car stereos, home stereos & portable music devices are all failed designs because they "need" wired or wireless accessories? And that's just those devices. I'm not even going to use other things accessories have been made for to point out how doltish you sound.

I'm gonna need you to step your way of thinking up because that was an asinine comment for real.