It’s time to stop thinking phones are anything but commodity hardware with variable degrees of shittiness. There are no such things as premium phones, just premium prices.
Who wants to pay premium for prices?
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When I was younger and more naïve, I used to think a case was useless. I kept my phones in my pocket most of the time, and didn’t feel particularly clumsy or reckless. Then I got a phone that happened to have a glass back, and it broke not because I fumbled it, but because it slid out of my pocket onto time floor while I was sitting down. Glass backs on phones are bullshit.
Ha the exact same thing happened to me. Most expensive phone I ever bought, and it broke first time it was “dropped” slipping out of my pants while I was sitting down. it was such a tiny drop, only half of dropping from a dining table, and probably a third if I was standing with it in my hand.
The effect of the drop being exponential to the height, the about 35-40cm is really a minuscule drop for an everyday tool. Yet it was enough to break the backside glass, which doesn’t even have a purpose, beyond moronic reviewers claiming it FEELS premium.
Well IMO it’s way inferior to high end plastics, that have way better durability, weigh less, is less bulky, and is less slippery. There is simply no comparison, it’s infuriating that Samsung made the Galaxy originally with plastic back, but changed it because ALL reviewers claimed it didn’t feel premium. Completely disregarding it won ALL durability tests against iPhone by far, it wasn’t even a competition.
Fuck idiotic reviewers that scold a feature that is actually hugely beneficial!!! Fuck the Apple way is always better mindset, even when it clearly isn’t.
Yup, I agree 100%. I usually go with a slim case because I follow a few self-imposed rules.
- Phone does not leave pocket when drinking or around people who are drinking.
- I don’t need to take my phone out if I’m visiting friends or family.
- I immediately pocket my phone if I’m moving, even just around the apartment.
I’ve not dropped my phone once since owning my first 12 years ago. I do not care what it’s made of.
It’s time to stop deciding what other people should like.
Only fashion victims thought that.
Companies happily obliged them, bumping the price of phones that break much more easily.
It’s funny that we buy these metal and glass phones and then protect them with rubber and plastic cases.
New phones are made to show wear so that they lose resale value.
It’s not funny, it’s moronic. But I guess that’s kind of what you meant. 😋
Funny as in sad
I always buy a new phone and a new case and after some years I ditch the case because it wouldn’t hurt to buy a replacement and it feels like a new slimmer version of my trusted phone…
I will die on the hill that metal unibody phones felt the most premium. Especially Huawei had a few that had a super smooth surface that almost felt like glass.
The issue there is that metal unibody deigns, attenuate RF signal strength. While they can work, it is a tradeoff.
Metal unibody degrades usability by shielding magnetic/RF signals. That degrades GPS NFC Bleutooth, wireless charging and probably also compass functionality.
So as I see it, metal bodies are probably not a reasonable option.
They also get dents, they transfer energy from a drop directly to the insides, they transfer heat from the CPU to your hand… Nah thanks. I’ll take plastic.
I never thought they couldn’t. Glass phones were an absolutely ridiculous idea.
Fuck plastic & the oil industry where it comes from.
There are plastics that aren’t oil derived. Some of them are even compostable in an industrial setting.
I understand what you mean, but I disagree, there are places where it isn’t necessary, needless use of plastic is a problem. But for the back of a phone, it can avoid buying an even bulkier plastic cover, it can extend the lifetime of the phone, in both cases it reduces waste.
Totally agree! I can’t wait to put that granite-cased phone with wood-backed PCBs in my pocket.
I remember seeing people mod the iPhone 4 to replace the glass back with a nice wood back.
Metal and wood can’t be a worse idea than glass. Grippy too. Although without the right treatment it can get gross I guess.
Shhh then it has more planned obsolescence under a veil of greenwash for being biodegradable.
That would be sick
I can’t think of anything plastic that I’d consider premium, let alone a phone.
So your idea of premium is fragile and expensive?
Plastic has superior usability in every way, weight, bulk, durability, shock absorption, less slippery than glass, meaning it doesn’t drop out of pockets handbags or even hands as easily.
So what part about a high end plastic is that isn’t premium in this situation?Utility is for poors. People who don’t count money want something shiny or whatever their peers have. They can easily replace it if it breaks.
That’s the thinking the article is arguing against.
But I do have an example.
High end polycarbonate prescription lenses for glasses.
The high index, thinnest, lightest lenses, are plastic. Not glass.Also Carbon fibre parts and silicone sextoys and cable shielding
None of that is plastic.
How is that not plastic?
Carbon fibre without plastic is just a hairy string
And with silicone I don’t even understand where the confusion is coming from? What else would it be?You sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole and now I’m less sure of what plastic actually is. Epoxy, which is used for carbon fiber among many, many, many other things, isn’t something I’d say is plastic but I looked it up and it was about 50/50 on plastic vs not. I found similar conflicting information about silicone but it was leaning more toward not being a plastic.
What would you define as plastic then?
Or maybe share some source claiming epoxy isn’t plastic?Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. - Wikipedia
: a plastic substance specifically : any of numerous organic synthetic or processed materials that are mostly thermoplastic or thermosetting polymers of high molecular weight and that can be made into objects, films, or filaments -Merriam Webster
plastic, polymeric material that has the capability of being molded or shaped, usually by the application of heat and pressure. This property of plasticity, often found in combination with other special properties such as low density, low electrical conductivity, transparency, and toughness, allows plastics to be made into a great variety of products. These include tough and lightweight beverage bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), flexible garden hoses made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), insulating food containers made of foamed polystyrene, and shatterproof windows made of polymethyl methacrylate. -Brittanica
Composites like CF and fiberglass use those materials as a stress distributing component and a plastic component as the rigid layer.
Historically fiberglass composites used things like polyester resin - a polymer derived from oil - as the rigid component.
If that’s not a plastic, what is it then?
Metal? Wood? Glass?
Yep, I’m incorrect. Learned something new today.
Which is a problem of perception and marketing, given that in many cases a plastic that has been specifically engineered to perform a function will, unsurprisingly, be better than an alternative.
It’s time to stop thinking a phone should be premium
True, too many people treat phones like a status symbol or fast fashion instead of a tool that should be maintained and used for many years.
It’s time to stop thinking a phone should be premium
too many people treat phones like a status symbol
Honestly just be glad you’re not among those misguided and move on.
Good philosophy. I’ve found that I’m much happier on the internet since I stopped being bothered about other people being “wrong”. I cannot save the world, but if I can help out a few people then that’s enough.
A tool can also be premium, and there is definitely a difference between an average phone and a premium phone.
The problem is all the nonsense about the premium FEEL, it’s not a feature when it degrades durability, or requires a cover that removes that premium feel anyway. Glass covers are also more slippery, making it more likely to drop out of a pocket or hand bag or even your hands.
Glass is detrimental in every way for usability, just the extra weight of it, makes drops more likely to cause damage. All the reviewers that push “The Premium Feel” without consideration to the downsides, like being slippery, adding weight, being more fragile and making the phone slightly more bulky, should be banned from making reviews.Yes, I completely agree on the complicity of reviewers parroting the same PR buzzwords in every single review. It definitely feels like they have played their part in normalising many of these objectively bad and anti-consumer design decisions.
pandering to reviewers who use the phones for a couple of days imstead of actual consumers who want to use it for a few years is probably the stupidest thing they do in this industry
give me a fucking replaceable battery so i can use it for more than a couple of years, stop removing features we all use just so it can feel futuristic and new. give me a repairable fucking phone.
like holy shit please take this off the hands of bean counting capitalists and marketers, and please put computers back in the hands of engineers.
Absolutely, but I think they feel they have to, to get good reviews.
Loved my Nokia Lumia phone back in the day. Plastic body and glass screen. Solid af.
nah phones aint premium until the price is lower f*cking phone costs so you dont have to spend half a months salary just to not have it become junk in 3 years and not be a buggy mess at launch premium is not paying an arm and a leg and not having your every move tracked and sold to the highest bidder
When’s the last time anybody got excited about a new phone?
The first Android phones were really exciting. I got a Samsung Galaxy (no numbers, no letters, just Galaxy) in 2009. AMOLED screen - the first Android experience for me. Unfortunately Samsung dropped the update support really soon - which got me into custom ROMs - another exciting thing…
You don’t like paying for a phone that’s the price of a mortgage payment, while having features removed every year?
You know, now that you mention it, I’ll take two.
When I switched from shitty LCD to nice AMOLED screen. It was Galaxy S3 I think.
Then, meh, I don’t like huge phones without the bezels.
I wish thicker bezels were more common tbh. It’s annoying to swipe from the side of the screen when my case is in the way.
You know what’s funny? I dream of a form factor like the Nintendo Switch: fully plastic, even the screen, so I could put a high quality glass screen protector like the one I have on the console. The thing is a tank, surviving many falls without a single damage, and I had to swap the protector once in all these years I have it.
I just want replaceable batteries on my phones again. The last two Samsung phones I owned ended up with swollen batteries, requiring sending them back to Samsung for repairs. I really miss the days of just being able to pop the back off and buying a replacement battery.
