A lot of manufacturers recently have made a daring shift to switch to glass back constructions for their smartphones. Apple, in particular, has done it on the iPhone X and where they go, the industry follows. Now, it isn’t the first time that Apple has done this, way back when they launched the iPhone 4S and it also featured a glass back construction. But that had more to do with aesthetics than any serve any actual feature as the newer iPhone X has a built-in wireless charging module behind its glass body.
But almost every smartphone has now become much bigger and heavier and that is a big problem with glass back smartphones. Because glass isn’t a resilient material like metal, it has a far higher chance of breaking or shattering than those constructed with aluminum or plastic. The HTC U11 is a prime example of this brittle material as it completely failed the durability test of YouTube channel called “Jerry Rig Everything”, bending with the slightest force and shattering after crossing a threshold. Part of the problem with glass back smartphones is that they generally have a slippery oleophobic coating around its glass accents, making them a lot less gripper. Most of these glass back smartphones are almost always supplied with a transparent cover to mitigate this issue however, the actual build and rigidity aren’t still as solid as glass metal or plastic. Also because of this slippery coating, it is almost always prone to accidental damage as leaving it on a desk while it vibrates will most likely push it off the edge, as demonstrated by YouTuber MKBHD’s newly shattered iPhone X.
But the USP with android phones, in general, is that replacement parts are almost always available from all major manufacturers and they don’t cost as much as some other flagships. So cheap repairs are always an option as opposed to cheap iPhone repair Auckland which isn’t really possible. The trouble with iPhone’s or Apple, in general, is that Apple doesn’t sell replacement parts in the open and you void any warranty once you open up the device. While the latter is applicable to almost all major phone manufacturers, most of them won’t sell you an extra care package which will repair your device on the cheap later on if any damage is endured. Not that anyone would want to intentionally drop their iPhone X without apple care because the glass back alone costs $399 to repair which is obscene. So if you do drop your iPhone accidentally, you cannot really fix it yourself and you always have to take it to an authorized iPhone repair center.
So is there a solution?
There isn’t any permanent solution to this but the overall rigidity can be increased much better with a few design tweaks. The inclusion of plastic and metal along with the glass back can definitely help as demonstrated by the Google pixel 2 and the Huawei Mate 10 Pro which are two of the most durable glass back smartphones currently on sale at the moment. In any case, a drop or two will most definitely shatter the glass because of its nature and unless a harder material is implemented in the construction, that is also capable of wireless charging, things aren’t looking as good for glass back smartphones anytime soon.
