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

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J2017
J2017
Arena Apprentice
• 1y ago
↵MariyanSlavov said:

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

Ceramic for me as well. I loved my mi 11 ultra.

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pimpin83z
pimpin83z
Arena Legend
• 1y ago
↵MariyanSlavov said:

That's a fair analogy, or it would've been if phones of old weren't absolutely fine without cases. I believe that a manufacturer can produce a sturdy phone (these exist), but it's all form over function and vanity... And yeah, failed to mention that it's just my opinion, I just hate phone cases... It's like phones are a nice pair of boobs, and you put on a stupid padded bra in order not to scratch them! Awful! A totally different look and feel!

"or it would've been if phones of old weren't absolutely fine without cases."


Was it all phones of old or certain phones of old? And how old are we talking? 10+ years old? I dropped my OG Droid that didn't have a case on it & cracked the display. Does that count as phones of old? Or again, are we talking certain phones of old? You mentioned dropping a Nokia. Everyone knows that not even Thor's hammer could break a Nokia, whereas there've been several cases where iPhones have suffered damage from a couch-height fall onto carpet.

Your opinion or not, a comment like "If it NEEDS an accessory, it's a failed design." makes absolutely no sense.

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Mariyan Slavov
Mariyan Slavov
Phonearena team
Original poster
• 1y agoedited
↵aspleme said:

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?

They kinda lack the "premium" feel, although they work fine in a car interior, I guess...

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isaiah12345
isaiah12345
Arena Apprentice
• 1y ago

I have and will always be team leather or metal. I have never and don't plan on ever really using wireless charging and glass is just too fragile. Plastic is my third choice though. I prefer leather because you can get all the benefits of glass without the fragility and less antenna bands as a whole then on a unibody metal design.

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Mariyan Slavov
Mariyan Slavov
Phonearena team
Original poster
• 1y ago
↵pimpin83z said:

"or it would've been if phones of old weren't absolutely fine without cases."


Was it all phones of old or certain phones of old? And how old are we talking? 10+ years old? I dropped my OG Droid that didn't have a case on it & cracked the display. Does that count as phones of old? Or again, are we talking certain phones of old? You mentioned dropping a Nokia. Everyone knows that not even Thor's hammer could break a Nokia, whereas there've been several cases where iPhones have suffered damage from a couch-height fall onto carpet.

Your opinion or not, a comment like "If it NEEDS an accessory, it's a failed design." makes absolutely no sense.

Well, asinine or not, I stand by my opinion: the glass sandwich is a failed design (to me). Other materials may dent, chip, or crack a little, but glass shatters in a very spectacular way, and it is a terrible material to make phones out of.

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Mariyan Slavov
Mariyan Slavov
Phonearena team
Original poster
• 1y ago
↵vwite2 said:

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.

I was really impressed by the kevlar back of the Motorola ThinkPhone, even drop-tested it from 1.5 feet on a hard floor. Not a scratch. And it looks really cool. I wonder if it's that much more expensive to make than glass if on a large enough scale...

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Brewski
Brewski
Arena Master
• 1y ago

The first phone I had with wireless charging was a Motorola back in 2013. Every phone I had with them after that had WC as well. Over the years they used carbon fiber, Kevlar, rubber without any problems or a need for a case. Then once companies switched to the glass sandwich, I can't even use my phone without a case. Please go back to actual premium materials. Glass is glass, and glass breaks.

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Brewski
Brewski
Arena Master
• 1y ago
↵PeterKostadinov said:

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

Why is Plastic, glass, or metal the only options mentioned? None of those are premium materials.

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yalokiy
yalokiy
Arena Master
• 1y ago

High quality plastic, like on my S21 is perfect. It's light, warm to the touch, has a pleasant velvety feeling, doesn't leave any fingerprints, is cheap to replace, doesn't interfere with wireless charging and is great at resisting damage from falls.

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pimpin83z
pimpin83z
Arena Legend
• 1y ago
↵MariyanSlavov said:

Well, asinine or not, I stand by my opinion: the glass sandwich is a failed design (to me). Other materials may dent, chip, or crack a little, but glass shatters in a very spectacular way, and it is a terrible material to make phones out of.

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

I can see how a smartphone made out of glass can be as fragile as the straw & stick houses of the first 2 little pigs. Using a glass phone w/o a case is a disaster waiting to happen.

IMO the most comfortably built glass phone was the Note 5. The flat display with the rounded back was super comfortable to hold. These curved displays with glass backs are the ones that need a case all the time.

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