Currently, there is a wide variety of smartphones available in the market. While phones made with different materials have been produced, the recent trend has been towards the production of phones with glass backs.
Phones with glass backs have their own disadvantages, but we can say that the most suitable material for phone production is glass. Let’s take a look at the advantages of glass, plastic, and metal for a phone body.
Metal
We started with metal because not many phones with metal backs are currently being manufactured. It’s like kind of a material that has been everyone forgot it was used on the back of the phones.
While some iPhones and entry-level devices from various Android OEMs have had metal backs in the past, metal has both advantages and disadvantages. Due to its excellent thermal conductivity, metal allows the heat generated by the phone’s processor to spread to the metal back, creating a passive cooling effect. Moreover, metal is a robust material that resists breaking when the phone is dropped, unlike a glass back.
However, metal’s disadvantages include potential signal interference for the phone’s modem. Although good heat conduction is beneficial, the drawback of metal’s thermal conductivity is that the ambient temperature can quickly affect the phone’s temperature.
For example, if you leave your phone outside on a sunny day, a metal back phone will likely heat up faster than a plastic one, and this heat will spread throughout the phone. Extreme cold is equally problematic, as both extreme heat and cold are not any good for the batteries. Additionally, metal phones are likely to get scratched easily and scratches on a metal back are more visible than the ones on plastic or a glass back.
Plastic
Plastic, on the other hand, is actually more advantageous than metal, and many phones with plastic backs are being manufactured nowadays. Plastic does not interfere with mobile data signals, and its heat conduction properties are not as significant as metal’s, which means that environment temperature have a minimal impact on the phone’s internals.
The disadvantage of plastic phones is that they might not give a very premium feel when you touch in yur hand. Nevertheless, plastic provides better protection against falls compared to glass. Although plastic’s lower thermal conductivity might seem advantageous, it also means that the heat inside the phone cannot be transferred outside, leading to slower cooling when the phone becomes warm. Plastic has both advantages and disadvantages but it’s one of the cheapest material used on the phones, it’s good for phones’ batteries and cheap.
Glass
The glass back phones are resistant to scratching. While scratches are very noticeable on metal and even a relatively soft material can scratch plastic or metal back, scratches on glass backe phones are less conspicuous. However, the downside of a glass back is its vulnerability to shattering when the phone is dropped from a height, whereas metal and plastic are more resilient in such situations.
Overall, a glass back offers more advantages for a phone, as it does not interfere with signal quality and has better heat conductivity than plastic. Additionally, its low electrical conductivity makes it suitable for wireless charging, and it provides a more premium appearance. It is worth mentioning that phone manufacturers can create phones with diverse shiny designs using various colors with a glass back.
The claim that glass is the best material for phones is not only ours; phone manufacturers also agree. The glass back is the most suitable material for phones because it does not affect signal quality, has superior thermal conductivity compared to plastic, and has very low electrical conductivity, making it ideal for wireless charging, while also offering a more premium look so Xiaomi, Samsung and Apple offers a glass back on their flagship devices.
