Build materials: metal vs glass vs plastic

Once upon a time, phones were devices in a variety of sizes and shapes with one thing in common: they were made from plastic or a substitute. Over the past few years, things have changed with phones available in a variety of finishes from metal and leather to plastic and glass.

With specs becoming standardised, your choice of smartphone can often come down to the design and build, so which material the best? Is it the glass of the Galaxy S6, the metal of the Huawei P8 or the leather and plastic of the LG G4? Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of each and some of the smartphones available for each type.

Metal

Metal was first adopted in mass market smartphones a few years ago and it is commonly used by Huawei and HTC in their flagship devices. Other manufacturers do use metal, but often combine metal bezels with plastic or glass for the front and bank.

Pros:

• Look & Feel: one of the key reasons people like metal devices is that they often look and feel good in the hand. Aluminium and Magnesium (metals that are most commonly used in smartphones) are malleable which allows manufacturers to be adventurous in their design.
• Heat dissipation: another reason metal is a good build material is that it aids OEMs by dissipating heat generated by the processor and internals in a way that plastic devices can’t. With some current processors overheating, a metal smartphone can disperse of more heat than its plastic counterparts.

Cons:

• Heat dissipation: Both a positive and negative for metal, as overheating processors can mean the handset itself gets too hot to touch. While its extremely rare that you’ll actually suffer burns from the handset overheating, metal devices can heat up to a point they are uncomfortable to hold.
• Showcase: A benefit of plastic devices is that they can hide marks and blemishes but metal devices will show scratches for all to see. Many current metal devices are anodised and available in a range of colours and while they do look good, they display blemishes when the untreated metal is exposed.

Devices:

• Huawei P8: Huawei’s 2015 flagship, the P8 combines an all-metal build that’s just 6.4mm thick with a 5.2-inch 1080p frameless display, a 64-bit octa-core Kirin 930 processor, 3GB RAM, a 13MP camera and a 2680mAh battery.
  Huawei P8 Review

• HTC One M9: The HTC One M9 brings the same anodized metal design used in the HTC One series to-date and adds premium specs, a new 20MP camera unit and dual front facing stereo speakers.
  HTC One M9 review

Glass

Many current flagship devices have Gorilla Glass protecting the display and some manufacturers adopt glass for the rear panel as well. From the metal and glass build of the Galaxy S6 Edge to the all-glass Xperia Z3, glass is commonly used on premium handsets and despite many reservations, is actually quite durable.

Pros:

• Gorilla Glass: Corning’s Gorilla Glass is designed to be durable and provide protection against bumps and scratches. While some manufacturers use other glass manufacturers, Gorilla Glass has been used on over 3 billion smartphones and is undoubtedly one of the principal reasons behind the rise in glass adoption.
• Highly scalable: Some manufacturers – like Apple – have invested in alternatives such as sapphire for their smartphones but Glass has one key advantage: it can be produced in massive scale, allowing OEMs to reduce the cost of producing a smartphone.

Cons:

• Fragile: The most obvious disadvantage to glass is that it can break. Sure, metal and plastic can also break and while Gorilla Glass provides significant protection, glass can still completely shatter when dropped or hit in the wrong part of the handset. Broken phone screen are testament to the key disadvantage to glass.
• Limited in design: Compared to both metal and plastic, using glass often limits the design of a smartphone. The majority of glass devices are flat, and while curved backs and curved displays are slowly beginning to be used in flagship devices, there’s certainly less flexibility when using glass compared to using plastic.

Devices:

• Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge: The true flagship for Korean OEM Samsung, the S6 Edge has the world’s first dual-curved smartphone display and combines a glass front and rear with aluminium mid-frame for a truly premium handset. It features specs that include a 5.2-inch Quad HD display, dual wireless charging and outstanding camera.
  Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Review

• Sony Xperia Z3: Sony’s Xperia Z range use Dragon Trail glass on the front and the rear to provide a glass-clad flagship smartphone in a range of colours. Key specs include a 5.1-inch Full HD display, a Snapdragon 810 processor, and 20.7MP G Lens camera.
  Sony Xperia Z3 review

Plastic

Plastic is the most common type of material used in smartphones and of the different types of plastic, polycarbonate is considered most suitable for smartphones. Common used of polycarbonate include the rear cover on the Galaxy Note and LG G ranges, along with the hard shell on Nokia Lumia handsets.

Pros:

• No reception issues: The biggest fault with metal and some glass handsets is they interfere with internal antennae, which often results in call and signal problems. There are virtually no handsets with polycarbonate exteriors that suffer from network issues and the material allows manufacturers to place antennae inside the handset rather than on the exterior.
• Low cost: Polycarbonate is significantly cheaper than both metal and glass and as the smartphone market becomes increasingly saturated, the ability to produce handsets for cheaper becomes a factor that can’t be overlooked. As the cost of other materials reduces however, the case for using plastic becomes less and less pronounced.

Cons:

• Look & Feel: Just how metal looks premium, the majority of plastic on smartphones look and feel decidedly non-premium in the hand. The shift away from using plastic in flagship devices suggests that the negative appeal of plastic clad smartphones has finally made OEMs consider which handset material they should be using.
• Heat Dissipation: Polycarbonate (and plastic in general) is a poor conductor of heat and this means that, if all things are equal, a plastic smartphone will often run slower during resource intensive tasks – such as gaming – when compared to a smartphone made from metal or glass.

Devices:

Despite the fact that plastic is no longer considered premium enough for a flagship, there are still a couple of premium devices that are predominantly made from plastic:

• LG G4: The LG G4 was announced six weeks ago and while it does come with a leather rear option, the handset is predominantly made from plastic. The plastic rear cover feels rather tacky and cheap (the leather is a little better) but despite this, the LG G4 is currently one of the best smartphones on the market.
  LG G4 Review

• Samsung Galaxy Note 4: Although nearly a year old now – and due an upgrade in couple of months at IFA 2015 – the Galaxy Note 4 is still one of the best phablets on the market. Made from plastic with a faux leather rear battery cover, the handset was considered premium at its launch but now pales in comparison to the metal and glass of its younger sibling, the Galaxy S6. The S Pen and a market-leading specs list however, definitely make up for any shortcomings in the build quality.
  Samsung Galaxy Note 4 review

Leather

Real leather is rarely used in smartphones but a few manufacturers have adopted faux leather rear covers in their smartphone to aid the appeal of the handset. Leather is widely considered part of the cosmetic – rather than integral – design of the smartphone and we’re mainly mentioning it here in case to showcase a couple of devices that use real leather.

Devices:

• LG G4: The G4 comes in either plastic or leather rear cover options and is the only current flagship to use real leather. It’s available in a range of colours – including red, yellow, pink, orange and teal – along with the customary black colour. But like with most real leather products, expect these covers to fade with wear and tear.
  LG G4 review

• Moto X 2014: The other real leather handset, the Moto X (2014) is getting close to a year old, but it’s still a great device. With the addition of almost-stock Android, premium specs and a Moto Maker service that allowed you to customise your Moto X (2014), this is one handset that still attracts customers.
  Moto X (2014) Review

Which type is best for you?

As the smartphone market becomes ever-saturated, manufacturers are turning towards the materials used in the smartphone as a key way of differentiating against their rivals.

Arguably the biggest switch in strategy is Samsung, who went from boring plastic in the Galaxy S5 to a stylish metal and glass build in the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge. Despite pressure on them to do and rumours of a metal-flagship, LG opted for leather and plastic in its G4 flagship and this definitely takes away the premium feel.

HTC adopted metal in its flagships – and still uses polycarbonate in some developing country flagships – and the HTC One range is widely considered one of the nicest designed smartphones. However, HTC’s problem is widely related to product strategy, which also affects Sony who have used glass for a few years now but are struggling to impact the market as they wanted to.

Having used Samsung smartphones as my daily driver for the past couple of years, I had become quite indifferent to plastic on smartphones (and almost accepting of it as the ‘norm’). However, having spent time with the Huawei P8, the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge, I can say that metal is now my favourite build material.

Each material has key advantages and disadvantages and one thing about metal and glass devices is that they tend to be sealed – without access to the battery – while some plastic devices offer removable back covers and batteries.

Which material is right for you? Well that depends on what you look for in a smartphone. If you need a removable battery (and expandable storage in some cases), you’ll probably want to consider plastic. If you need durability and the ability to hide scratches and blemishes, glass is a great option. If you want the most premium looking handset and the best performance, a handset made from aluminium or magnesium is definitely the one for you.

Which do you think is the best build material? Vote in the poll and let us know your views in the comments below!

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