Why are we not seeing more phones with shatterproof screens?

[Toes Up]

A related question, how well is the T2 (a VZW exclusive) selling?

 

[pbike908]

A Verizon store employee told me that it isn't selling near as well as they had hoped. As an owner of one, I am not surprised. It's a decent phone--especially if one can get one on sale.

That's not to say I wouldn't buy a future model. But Lenovo is gonna have to step up their game big time as Samsung has risen the bar with the S7 and I suspect the next Nexus 5" phone will be a major upgrade. The new Huawei phones look impressive, too...

I will never buy a phone larger than this one. In fact, I would prefer one smaller preferable no larger than 5"

 

[Toes Up]

A Verizon store employee told me that it isn't selling near as well as they had hoped. As an owner of one, I am not surprised. It's a decent phone--especially if one can get one on sale.

I realize that Moto is not Apple or Samsung, but I actually thought the shatterproof screen would be a good selling point especially since broken screens are such a big problem. In fact, I just saw an article that says it cost $270 to replace a S7 Edge screen.

Up until recently you saw very little marketing for the shatterproof screen. The Ashton Kutcher commercials are OK. In my opinion they should market these phones more to parents since kids break their screens all the time.

Of course, it all comes down to money and if this phone isn't selling well that makes it less likely that we will see additional shatterproof phones. Or, until Apple comes out with one...............

 

[jonstrong]

I think Motorola got this *almost* right, and with a bit of tweaking, the model could be very compelling.

We've got three of these since mid November, and they've been excellent. They're fast, smooth, have very good battery life (really not looking for a debate on this one - we all average 5 to 6 hours screen-on-time, and about 36 hours before needing a charge - putting it on a wireless charger before bed each night means we never run out of juice). The very light layer of Moto features on top of Android add real utility. Sound and connectivity are great too.

Re: unbreakable screen: this really is a great feature - my wife and daughter would both have had to exercise our insurance plans to replace their phones or screens by now without it, as they've both dropped their DT2's a couple of times. What I think Motorola should have thought through a bit better is the fact that the top removable layer of plastic is still scratchable. It won't break, but if it scratches - which it does far more easily than glass - you'll be stuck with a nasty looking screen until you spring for a new $25 replacement; not a bad price, but with a screen that scratches easily, you may wind up doing this many times.

With this in mind, I added a 0.2mm tempered glass protector (Verizon branded - installed by them at the store for $25 - highly recommended, btw) to each of the 3 phones. Even though the protector is glass, being attached to and "floating" centered on the plastic beneath, it's actually pretty resistant to fractures. My daughter and have have both dropped their DT2's and there are no cracks. My daughter's DT2 is "naked" - no case on it at all. My wife has a simple TPU case on hers (CaseMate Tough on mine).

My reasoning: the tempered glass layer looks and feels great: none of the three phones are showing any scratches at all despite 5 months of heavy use. If you do drop the phone so the glass protector cracks, it's $25 to replace it. But - I think that there will be far less frequent need to replace a glass protective layer than there would be to replace the top plastic Moto "shatter shield" layer. Our phones all look and feel 100% new, and I know that I can keep them like this over the next couple of years, and I will never have to worry about the screen breaking on any of them. THAT is a big plus for me.

I think the shatter proof screen is a wonderful idea - finding a way to market it so that people can have the same experience that my family is having now, with the glass protector on top, would be a bit of a challenge, but can be done - and could be very powerful. The idea that you can have the look and feel of a top of the line premium screen, but repair the worst damage it might incur for $25, is really compelling. I hope R&D in this direction continues - it really makes a lot of sense.

 

[doogald]

I realize that Moto is not Apple or Samsung, but I actually thought the shatterproof screen would be a good selling point especially since broken screens are such a big problem. In fact, I just saw an article that says it cost $270 to replace a S7 Edge screen.

However, Samsung sells Samsung Protection Plus for $99 when you buy the phone, which extends the warranty to two years and allows up to two replacements for accidental damage with a $79 deductible. Apple has a similar plan with AppleCare+. So, if you know that you're prone to breaking screens, you have a way to mitigate it without worrying about a $270 charge.

As for selling to parents, I think that the phone is too big for parents thinking about buying a phone for tweens and teens. Pockets are too small and hands as well for a phone this large. Also, kids don't just shatter screens - they also lose phones, get them wet, or break other things (e.g., headphone jacks) with, well, immature handling.

Moto should have also tweaked the one year trade in program to allow people to get this year's Droid with their Moto Maker customizations rather than the Turbo 2 for another year with refurbished parts.

 

[Toes Up]

As for selling to parents, I think that the phone is too big for parents thinking about buying a phone for tweens and teens. Pockets are too small and hands as well for a phone this large. Also, kids don't just shatter screens - they also lose phones, get them wet, or break other things (e.g., headphone jacks) with, well, immature handling.

I realize that this phone is too big for some, but I also see plenty of teens with a 6+ (and if the price was equal I'm sure you would see more). I also realize that a broken screen isn't the only problem you can experience with a phone, but I believe that cracked/broken screens are the #1 problem. In short, my guess is that most kids simply want an iPhone (I know mine do) so that might be the biggest reason parents aren't buying these for their kids.

 

[doogald]

Well, my kids are now young adults but not only do they want only iPhones, they've held on to their 4" iPhones because the 4.7" 6/6s is too big. I noticed that my 17 yo niece carries her 6 in her back pocket and it's practically half sticking out all of the time (and I see that a lot with that age group). iPhone SE may be a big win for Apple...

If I was one of these companies (particularly Apple, with its high margins) I might think about just replacing the glass outer layer with plastic but install a cover like the Zagg HDX, which feels close to glass, doesn't get as streaky, doesn't scratch (unlike the Motorola outer layer). iPhone went glass in the first place because plastic scratched. Maybe the Zagg HDX is too expensive though compared with gorilla glass? My guess is that the reason that we see glass screens rather than shatterproof may be that - cost of the parts. Even $10 more per screen is a huge amount of lost margin when you have to price competitively...

 

[Mike Dee]

A related question, how well is the T2 (a VZW exclusive) selling?

The shatter proof screen is a great idea but because it's a plastic it's easy to scratch.... I prefer gorilla glass.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[adayoff]

I'm thinking that if the Turbo 3, or whatever the next Droid is, has the waterproof rating the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge has, it'd almost be perfect! Oh, and a fingerprint scanner.

But anyway, yes, the shatterproof screen is awesome regardless of being prone to light scratches. I hope the next line continues on with it! Great concept and makes sense over glass. I haven't scratched mine up yet as I keep keys in a different pocket.

Now if we could just get waterproofing so I can pour high end champagne all over it...

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[ChuckLIII]

I thought they were water-resistant. Don't the Turbo 2s have the same microcoating the Turbos did?

 

[jonstrong]

The shatter proof screen is a great idea but because it's a plastic it's easy to scratch.... I prefer gorilla glass.

...which is why we installed the Verizon branded 0.2mm tempered flexible glass protector on our three brand new Turbo 2's when we first got them in November. They all look and feel great, don't scratch like the plastic layer would -- and on the off chance that somebody drops the phone hard enough to crack the glass protector (in my family, typically 1 of 4 people might do this during a 2 year cycle), it's $25 to replace the glass protector, and the shatter shield underneath will stay pristine.

 

[Toes Up]

I thought they were water-resistant. Don't the Turbo 2s have the same microcoating the Turbos did.

I think Moto says they are "water repellant." I've seen a video where they put the phone in water, and the Turbo (or T2) didn't fare too well. I was hoping the T2 would have a decent IP rating, but for whatever reason Moto decided not to (the G has a IPX7 rating, so go figure).

 

[TsPcs]

It's because the phone can't be rooted and your stuck with massive Verizon bloatware the UK version is selling very well it's bootloader comes unlocked