this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2023
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[–] [email protected] 74 points 10 months ago (3 children)

I agree with the message that most of it doesn't matter since I'll slap a thick case on my phone, but the sheer amount of broken unprotected screens you'll see in the wild makes you think.

[–] Imgonnatrythis 66 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

Makes Me think when are phone manufacturers going to focus less on a few more pixels on the camera and make a phone rugged enough that for routine daily use it doesn't need a damn case? I've never liked cases but now so many phones have Cameras that stick out such that the only way to get them to even sit flat is to level them off with a case. Just make the battery a little bigger and thicken the backing of the actual phone! Also raise the titanium bezel just 1mm and the glass is much less likely to ever make direct impact.

[–] [email protected] 67 points 10 months ago (1 children)

But if the phones don't break every 2 years then slightly fewer people will buy the latest phone! Won't somebody please think of the shareholders?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Frankly, if people are shelling out for higher end phones that break that easily, that's at least partly on them.

Like, I've been buying mid-tier Androids for about 10 years now, and I can't recall the last time I've had one shatter, and I'm clumsy as all hell. I've accidentally punted this thing across the office once, not a scratch. And as I'm so routinely told by the iPhone and more elitist Android spaces, this thing is supposedly a cheap plastic piece of shit.

It's so weird they settle for something more expensive but also more breakable. Makes sense if you're buying glass wear or something, I guess, but a device you keep in your pocket or hand all day? Shouldn't it be nigh indestructible at that price point?

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago (3 children)

They tried that already with the samsung s7 active. It was a pretty rugged phone by itself but people still insisted on putting a case on it. They then complained about the phone being too big and it didn't sell well.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago

Those still broke too easily. I tried out a couple models of the actives, and they would still break. One time I was sitting on the ground and my phone slipped out of my hoodie pocket and it shattered. It fell maybe 3-5 inches tops.

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[–] OneWomanCreamTeam 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I mean, phones are already designed to be obsolete pretty quickly to keep you buying more often. Longevity isn't really a high priority in modern phone design.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago (2 children)

i've had my current phone for 3 years and it's been getting maddeningly slow lately. 2 weeks ago i took the case off and it legitimately feels sleeker and newer and somehow faster? or at least i'm better able to put up with the slowness cause it feels new? it's very odd and i'm frightened at the psychology

[–] [email protected] 19 points 10 months ago (9 children)

The only way to explain it's faster could be because the case was making the phone overheat. The chipset is made to protect itself by lowering the clockspeed (calculations per second) to avoid damage by heat resulting in being slower at performing tasks.

So maybe the case was isolating the phone so much it overheated constantly and after removing the case it could breath again and keep its original speed.

If you had a chunky case then maybe a sleeker design could offer enough cooling and still some protection. Best of both worlds :)

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[–] Imgonnatrythis 5 points 10 months ago

I bet if I stopped wearing my helmet at work people would assume I'm faster too, but they probably wouldn't be as nice to me.

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[–] [email protected] 65 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Grandpa Nokia: "Pah, when I was young, we didn't need any coat!"

[–] [email protected] 38 points 10 months ago

"Did I ever tell the time when your uncle 6310 got dropped on a tile floor, and the floor broke?"

[–] [email protected] 53 points 10 months ago (7 children)

If only modern phones would made out of proper shock resistant plastic, instead of bendy metal and brittle glass, we wouldn't need extra case.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I've heard the glass is also quite bendy, compared to normal glass.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Plastic is usually scratchy. Glass is much better about resisting scratches. I believe you're, right, modem phone glass is pretty flexible. It's also (usually) coated with something that prevents finger oils from building up easily.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago

modem

A good old keming issue in the wild!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Still, the choice of glass is clearly cosmetic (less prone to scratch, nicer look, premium feel), buy technically plastic presents more advantages, it is lighter, absorbes shocks, fairly durable, much cheaper. To make for the most reliable device it would be better, but we know that's not a priority for any of the manufacturers, and propably also for many customers.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Eh, I would argue that having a scratched screen goes beyond a cosmetic issue. It tangibly downgrades your experience.

Plastic scratches much easier than glass cracks.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

I have nothing against glass screen, but glass back-side I find rather stupid, and pretty standard nowdays.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago (2 children)

The metal is okay, it's the glass that's the problem.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

Ah, the good old days, when only the screen was glass.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

Depends on alloy, some are more brittle or prone to deformation than others

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago

I want a nice solid core of 1/4" plate steel for my phone's structural skeleton. Wouldn't that be cool?

Wrap the rest of the phone in shock proof plastic and glass screen.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Repairable phones are where it's at.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Honestly, modern phones are pretty durable and screen replacements are pretty cheap.

My complaint is that the glass backs are slippery as fuck. My iPhone was constantly sliding off of tables and shit until I bit the bullet and got a case for it.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Thanks to apple and it's fanbase we don't have that luxury

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[–] [email protected] 39 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 21 points 10 months ago

You'll crack your screen, kid!

[–] [email protected] 33 points 10 months ago (2 children)

One of friends back in the day would lecture me on having a phone case. "why don't you just not drop it?" I was like, dude, accidents happen. "I've never dropped my phone he'd say." I swear, like a month after that happened, his friend stepped on his phone and a month after that he dropped his phone when taking it out of his pocket outside a burger joint.

I didn't have a go about it. He's not one of those that takes those types of jabs well.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Some people have to learn about best practices the hard way.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yeah. I know people who say stuff like that. I know someone who wanted a convertible car (they were 18). Someone mentioned the greater danger of they flip, and this person said "well I'm not going to flip a car". We all gave them a hard time about whether they thought everyone who flipped a car did it on purpose. The next year, this same person flipped their car several times (and walked away OK somehow).

Some people can't comprehend that bad stuff would happen to them.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It is unlikely that an average person flips their car. You have to weigh the pros and cons of it. We take risks all the time, but if we think it's more beneficial we take them. Just driving a car is pretty dangerous alone. Personally, I don't think a convertible is worth the risk or the cost, but I won't say no one should get one.

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I am 25 and I have one of those boomer cases on my phone. (a flipcase) I've bought it in August 2019 and it still doesn't even have a scratch on the screen. Don't care if I look like a boomer, that thing did cost me about 1000€ and I ain't gonna replace it just for being careless.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago

Looks down at unprotected phone

Tis only a matter of time you poor bastard.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 10 months ago (1 children)

History repeats itself: the Titanium version of the PowerBook G4 was also prone to basically falling apart, now the iPhone 15 Pro does the same thing

[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yep. Thin bits of titanium are brittle. Apple should spend more time in knife communities so they can get learned.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 10 months ago

knife communities

like London?

[–] [email protected] 28 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I took my phone out of the case after a while, but the stupid screen goes all the way to the edge, so I keep accidentally tapping things just by holding the phone.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago

I took mine out of the case recently and it's almost unusable. The screen goes to the edge like you mentioned. It's paper thin so my hand doesn't fit around it nicely for my thumb to swipe around. Lastly it's slippery as fuck.

My phone case isn't for protection. It's for making the phone usable.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The main reason I dgaf about phone aesthetics. That baby's going into a thick af case asap.

Also, unintentionally appropriate user name?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Yep, fun coincidence I guess 😄

[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I had a coworker who was constantly buying new phones. I didn't know why until I realized that he didn't use a case. He didn't like how the phones looked with a case on them.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Man I have a $25 phone clear case and I've dropped my phone on concrete, hardwood floors etc... Not a scratch.

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