What materials do you think smartphones in 2019 be made out of?

[Matty]

Over the years, smartphones have slowly been made out of different materials. We started with plastic. Oh, so many plastic phones haha and slowly we started to get glass and metal devices hitting the shelves.

So looking into the future, do you think we will continue to see glass devices or will we see more LG V10 or Blackberry KEYᵒⁿᵉ devices that have material and rubber backs?

Will ceramic be the new king of materials going forward like the Xiaomi Mi Mix?

Would love to know what everyone thinks.

 

[Aquila]

I really hope that glass is dead. My preference is metal back, ceramic might be second choice, plastic definitely third and glass way way way behind that in like 2 millionth place.

 

[VN750]

I think we'll continue to see glass based phones as they seem to be a big hit with the majority of consumers.

Personally I despise glass and would rather see a mix of plastics and metal something like my Note 4. It has a premium look and feel but is still durable. If needed I'd even prefer to go back to all plastic like my old Note 2 that I still have that despite a ton of use and abuse still looks virtually new.

 

[jjinal]

Ceramic

 

[Aquila]

I think we'll continue to see glass based phones as they seem to be a big hit with the majority of consumers.

Personally I despise glass and would rather see a mix of plastics and metal something like my Note 4. It has a premium look and feel but is still durable. If needed I'd even prefer to go back to all plastic like my old Note 2 that I still have that despite a ton of use and abuse still looks virtually new.

They aren't a big hit with the majority of consumers though. Most people are still buying plastic and metal phones. The S8 sales represent about 2% of total marketshare, so let's say another 2% for the S7 and S6 + another .1% for the G6... that means somewhere around 6.1%, being generous, of consumers purchased glass - but of those, how many bought it because it was glass and didn't settle for glass because of other aspects of it? My best estimate is that less than 1% of people prefer glass body devices.

 

[Laura Knotek]

My preference is metal back. I don't care for glass due to its fragility. However I dislike curved screens even more than glass backs.

 

[Golfdriver97]

I don't think a ceramic back is the greatest of ideas. It can be as fragile as glass.

There are some polymers that are as hard as steel. The downside is they are expensive.

 

[anon(238680)]

ceramic might be second choice

Why ceramic, as it's very brittle I believe?

 

[anon(238680)]

The downside is they are expensive.

yeah, but I'd like to see the waste percentage from manufacturing the glass screens and backs. Might be cheaper in the long run. I'd like rubberized kevlar!

 

[Ry]

Carbon Fiber and Kevlar.

Oh. Wait.

 

[Golfdriver97]

yeah, but I'd like to see the waste percentage from manufacturing the glass screens and backs. Might be cheaper in the long run. I'd like rubberized kevlar!

But glass can be recycled, and most likely retempered. It's a lot harder to do that with ceramic.

 

[Aquila]

Carbon Fiber and Kevlar.

Oh. Wait.

Waiting.

 

[kbz1960]

Some form of fiberglass

 

[Matty]

My preference is metal back. I don't care for glass due to its fragility. However I dislike curved screens even more than glass backs.

Metal definitely has its advantages and I was actually discussing this last night night with the family to see what they preferred. If I drop my phone, the metal will just dent. With glass however, there is a chance it could crack in a few places. We have all seen pictures o cracked Galaxy S8 back panels.

 

[Matty]

Why ceramic, as it's very brittle I believe?

It scores an 8 on mohs scale of hardness so the chances of it getting scratched by pretty much anything is really low. That would be a big selling point for some people. Obviously if you drop it, it will have the same fate as glass would but might happen a little easier since it is brittle but maybe OEMs can fuse it with some other material to make it stronger?.

 

[mohit9206]

In 2019 budget phones will still be made of cheap quality plastic just like today.
Mid range phones will have the same mediocre quality metal build as today.
And flagship phones will be glass or metal or combination of both.
Ceramic will also be an option.

 

[Inders99]

How about a phone that doesn't need a case to survive life? I could care less what it's made of but why make phones that feel nice in the hand but need a case to actually survive daily use? Carbon Fiber?

 

[Golfdriver97]

Found something about carbon fiber: https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/2076/why-is-carbon-fiber-inherently-weak-or-is-it

The first couple replies are interesting.

 

[anon(238680)]

How about a phone that doesn't need a case to survive life? I could care less what it's made of but why make phones that feel nice in the hand but need a case to actually survive daily use? Carbon Fiber?

Yeah, that's where I'm at with the rubberized kevlar - strong and won't slip out of your hand or pocket. Don't really care that they're 'pretty' as I put the ones now in a case as soon as they come out of the box. Same with color.

 

[kbz1960]

Exactly. Who cares how pretty it is when you have to cover it up with an ugly case. They don't want that as the case business has to be huge.