Other Is plastic more durable than aluminium/titanium/glass?

[mectojic]

I remember back to the early 2000s, when people had brick phones made from plastic, with plastic screens.
Even the thinner ones never experienced any crazy amounts of damage when dropped. The plastic shells could get scuffed, but it hardly even mattered.
Even flip phones back then were really durable. If one fell out of your hand, it wasn't going to break in half.

So the question is, is plastic more durable than all the premium metals and glass of modern iPhones?

 

[now i see it]

The iPhone 5C was plastic and it wasn’t a popular phone

 

[mectojic]

The iPhone 5C was plastic and it wasn’t a popular phone

Well, that's partly because it was released right beside the vastly superior 5S. The 5C should've been announced alone, like the immensely popular iPhone SE.

 

[ab2c4]

I would think yes, plus it’s lighter and would drop the price of phones possibly.

 

[StudioMacs]

So the question is, is plastic more durable than all the premium metals and glass of modern iPhones?

I’d rather fly in a plane made out of titanium than plastic.

 

[eyoungren]

I remember back to the early 2000s, when people had brick phones made from plastic, with plastic screens.
Even the thinner ones never experienced any crazy amounts of damage when dropped. The plastic shells could get scuffed, but it hardly even mattered.
Even flip phones back then were really durable. If one fell out of your hand, it wasn't going to break in half.

So the question is, is plastic more durable than all the premium metals and glass of modern iPhones?

I dropped my Sanyo Katana once - into my coffee when getting out of the car. This was a 2007 issue phone. Fortunately, my reaction was quick enough that it was only in the coffee for a split second. Shut it down, wiped it off and let it sit by a window that got intense sun all day. No damage.

But, for me, after many years spent with plastic phones I was happy to trade it for metal and glass when I got my iPhone 5. The phone before that was an HTC Touch Pro. Metal and plastic (mostly plastic), built like a tank…

 

[Clamjuice65]

I remember back to the early 2000s, when people had brick phones made from plastic, with plastic screens.
Even the thinner ones never experienced any crazy amounts of damage when dropped. The plastic shells could get scuffed, but it hardly even mattered.
Even flip phones back then were really durable. If one fell out of your hand, it wasn't going to break in half.

So the question is, is plastic more durable than all the premium metals and glass of modern iPhones?

Hell No it’s not more Durable

 

[rui no onna]

I remember back to the early 2000s, when people had brick phones made from plastic, with plastic screens.
Even the thinner ones never experienced any crazy amounts of damage when dropped. The plastic shells could get scuffed, but it hardly even mattered.
Even flip phones back then were really durable. If one fell out of your hand, it wasn't going to break in half.

So the question is, is plastic more durable than all the premium metals and glass of modern iPhones?

I remember my Nokia 3310. I dropped that thing so many times and it was still fine.

 

[jakespeed]

I think a lot of us associate plastic with the older / less durable phones. However, when Apple introduced the slab pf glass / metal phone it also eliminated a lot the moving parts which were the major contributor to the lack of durability (keyboards, hinges, etc.) You can kind of see it in the new folding phones which seem to have a lot of reliability issues. I really do wonder if a premium "Plastic" and Glass phone would not be more durable, eliminate the RF issues (Radios and Charging) but no one is brave enough try it again.

PS - I have a drawer of 5c's we used for testing bluetooth in 2015 and they still look brand new...though pretty much paperweights now.

 

[sack_peak]

View attachment 2292165

Incredible! I always thought Sanyo was a black & white TV, rice cooker and battery brand.

 

[sack_peak]

eliminated a lot the moving parts which were the major contributor to the lack of durability (keyboards, hinges, etc.)

I had 1997 Ericsson GF788 and my experience with that phone made be stick to candybar phones. Spent $100 in 1999 money fixing it.

Those folding Android phones? I'd avoid them like the plague. If ever Apple releases one it would surely cost more than $1799 for the 256GB SKU.

 

[DougiePhresh]

Is plastic more durable than:

Glass - yes
Metal - no

Did you pay any attention in like 3rd grade science class?

 

[Act3]

I remember back to the early 2000s, when people had brick phones made from plastic, with plastic screens.
Even the thinner ones never experienced any crazy amounts of damage when dropped. The plastic shells could get scuffed, but it hardly even mattered.
Even flip phones back then were really durable. If one fell out of your hand, it wasn't going to break in half.

So the question is, is plastic more durable than all the premium metals and glass of modern iPhones?

Or plastic calculators. They never cracked when dropped.

 

[Analog Kid]

So the question is, is plastic more durable than all the premium metals and glass of modern iPhones?

Durable isn't a single characteristic. Plastic is less hard, so more easily scratches making it kind of lousy for a screen. Glass is more brittle, so can crack easier than plastic if strained. Aluminum and titanium are more stiff than plastic so they don't bend as much (so the glass attached to them doesn't strain and crack as easily).

Modern phones tend to build all the pieces into a solid whole so they support each other much better than the older phones which were designed as boards in a shell. An iPhone integrates and laminates the various pieces together so that everything, including the battery, is structural. That makes it much tougher than just a glass window in a frame.

 

[Stevenyo]

Or plastic calculators. They never cracked when dropped.

I mean, I think I broke the plastic casing of both major calculators I ever owned. Really it's not that old phones were tanks so much as we didn't use them enough to damage them. Smartphones are a trillion dollar industry, I'm going to trust that the material science tradeoffs being made are done for solid reasons. If a plastic smartphone would be cheaper to produce, had less interference issues, and was more durable, someone would be out there selling "Super Resin" or whatever successfully.

 

[AF_APPLETALK]

Kind of miss that iPhone 3G/3GS body style

 

[Chuckeee]

I remember back to the early 2000s, when people had brick phones made from plastic, with plastic screens.
Even the thinner ones never experienced any crazy amounts of damage when dropped. The plastic shells could get scuffed, but it hardly even mattered.
Even flip phones back then were really durable. If one fell out of your hand, it wasn't going to break in half.

So the question is, is plastic more durable than all the premium metals and glass of modern iPhones?

Lot of what if(single event , cumulative multiple events, impact vs bending, etc), configuration details (type plastic) but in general:
Plastic is more susceptible to damage but the phone is more likely to still be somewhat operational. Catastrophic damage (total failure of all phone functionality) is probably slightly less likely.

 

[sack_peak]

Kind of miss that iPhone 3G/3GS body style

I do not miss the itsy bitsy battery life or a screen size that is more fashionable than usable.

 

[Jamo12]

I would love if they offered the next iPhone SE with a plastic body. Fun colors and no back glass to crack would be wonderful.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

I remember back to the early 2000s, when people had brick phones made from plastic, with plastic screens.
Even the thinner ones never experienced any crazy amounts of damage when dropped. The plastic shells could get scuffed, but it hardly even mattered.
Even flip phones back then were really durable. If one fell out of your hand, it wasn't going to break in half.

So the question is, is plastic more durable than all the premium metals and glass of modern iPhones?

Dumb question. There are many different kinds of plastic, many different metal alloys and many different types of glass; all with huge variations in performance characteristics. Plus durable has all kinds of meanings.

 

[eyoungren]

Incredible! I always thought Sanyo was a black & white TV, rice cooker and battery brand.

Marketing at the time indicated that the Sanyo Katana (along with the Motorola Razor) were the iPhone killers.

Yeah, not really.

 

[Chuckeee]

Dumb question. There are many different kinds of plastic, many different metal alloys and many different types of glass; all with huge variations in performance characteristics. Plus durable has all kinds of meanings.

True, polycarbonate (plastic used in safety goggle) is much stronger than polyvinyl chloride (plastic used for pipes).

 

[Darren.h]

Plastic!

 

[Saturn1217]

Apple is not going back to plastic. they’ve even eliminated plastic from the packaging. No way are they going back to building a phone out of it.

Let’s be real. The build of a phone serves more than one purpose. Yes being durable is nice. But there is a reason not everyone uses their iPhone wrapped in the bulkiest otter box defender case they can find. There are OTHER considerations (perceived quality, aesthetics etc) which are important to most consumers when they buy a phone.

I just wish Apple would consider aluminum premium again. It works just fine for MacBooks and iPads. I feel like they have designed themselves into a corner by arbitrarily deciding that their pro phones can’t use aluminum around the rim.

 

[Analog Kid]