My old $200 Motorola G9 Power phone lasted almost 4 years with only very minor scratches. Obviously in that period I have dropped it a few times getting out of the car, where the phone sometimes work itself out of my pant pocket while I drive, and then it slips out when I get out of the car. But no problem on my previous phones, despite the Moto had cheap Panda glass front.
Then I bought my $800 glass back Xiaomi 13T Pro in January, and I loved the phone for the camera and good specs. But alas after only 4 months, and single drop of just 30 cm while sitting on the porch, the glass back immediately cracked! The back now looks like an ugly mess, and the high water resistance is very likely gone too.
For sure the last time I buy a phone with a glass back!!!
I wonder why glass back is so popular, and I curse the media for reviewing the Samsung Galaxy S2 as “feeling a bit cheap”, because the back was synthetic, and drop tests showed it was 10 times as durable as the iPhone with its glass back.
Samsung did it right in the beginning, glass backs are a curse.
PS: I don’t use condoms for my phones, if they need that for daily use, it’s an obvious design flaw!!!
The glass back is supposedly there to give a premium feel to the phone. But because it’s fragile, people have to use a cover, but with the cover, the premium feel of a glass back is gone anyways?
How is glass back not a design flaw?
EDIT FOR CLARIFICATION:
I am not clumsy, that’s why I believe the phone should be able to last without cover. This was the first time the phone slid out of my packet, and I’ve NEVER dropped it out of my hands. One 30 cm slip and it’s broken. Where for instance my Moto had maybe 4-6 in all over the years, and remained unscathed, apart from some tiny scratches.
The sliding out of pocket does occur maybe a couple of times per year, but it’s a low drop, and the phone should absolutely be able to handle that tiny drop, as it’s an item for everyday use.
I’ve also never had problems with scratches on my screen on any phone, which is the reason people use screen protectors I guess, which I don’t either, because they are ugly, for instance they create a tiny ring around the camera, and they feel awful IMO, my phone came with it, and it took exactly 10 seconds for me to decide to remove it, because I could feel the edge of the screen protector when using the phone.
But please stop with the dropping my phone regularly comments! Just because I dropped my Moto a few times (slid out of pocket) over almost 4 years! Always from low height, which it should be able to handle a few times.
The 13T Pro, as well as the standard 13T, come in two versions - dual-glass design and glass front with vegan leather back, both featuring plastic frames with matching colors and metal-like finish. [1]
The Xiaomii 13T Pro is available with a vegan leather back (plastic) which won’t break from a drop. Instead vegan leather likely deteriorates in look and feel over the years, but I’d prefer it over broken glass.
Vegan leather is not as durable as a normal plastic made for covers. It’s generally made of Mycelium (mylo) the specific Xiaomi vegan leather is made in part of apple peel.
The term Vegan leather is reserved for “sustainable” materials, which means it can be made of reused plastic. But that’s still not as strong as the high end plastic materials that was originally used for premium phones.
If I knew for sure the vegan option for the phone was made of high quality PU, I would have chosen that.
I wonder why glass back is so popular (…) How is glass back not a design flaw?
Because Steve Jobs. Seriously, many stupid “but it’s pretty”, as well as several anti consumer decisions (hard to repair, glued parts), can be traced back to Apple and Steve Jobs. Couple that with every fucking manufacturer wanting to emulate Apple, especially Chinese ones, and everything in the smartphone world makes sense.
Glass backs were already popular on Android phones when Apple started using them. Previously they used metal backs, but they aren’t compatible with wireless charging so manufacturers have to choose between plastic and glass — guess which one is more popular with reviewers?
Glass backs are dumb. I always use a simple case that can hold my driver’s license and a card. I never use a wallet. I think it’s been at least 20 years since I’ve carried a wallet.
I don’t understand why people do this. Surely if you lose your phone or it is stolen then you are without your phone, ID and bank card?
I get people buying cheap Xiaomi phones because they can’t afford a more expensive phone. I kinda don’t get why people buy expensive Xiaomi phones.
Very good specs for the price all around, but admittedly there are many other good phones. But for me there is always some minor detail I don’t like.
One Plus has opposing button that causes miss clicks.
Flat screen, many phones have curved screen that makes them less suitable as readers IMO, and can also cause input mistakes.
Some dont have IP68 or an IP rating at all.
Some don’t have good software support, this has 5 years.
I might have sprung the extra dough for the Samsung S24 Ultra, except for the unpleasant sharp corners, and I’m not that enthusiastic about Samsung products in general anymore.
The biggest drawback with Xiaomi used to be the OS, but the new HyperOS is way better than MIUI. Although it looks the same, it somehow has a better feel to it, and they’ve gotten rid of a lot of crap-ware.
Now the biggest drawback IMO is that it’s made in China. Which considering recent political developments I will do more to avoid in the future.
That does make sense, I guess. I forget that most people aren’t hardcore privacy nuts sometimes. I’m currently on a OnePlus with a custom rom, which’ll probably be good for a few more years, but the only new phone I’d consider at the moment would be a pixel with Graphene.
I forget that most people aren’t hardcore privacy nuts
I used to use Android AOSP without Google apps for that reason, I am still observant on privacy, but I don’t see why a one plus should be any better than Xiaomi, or why a random ROM with possible unknown interference should be safer/better regarding privacy.
Lol “I regularly drop my phone. I knowingly bought a fragile phone for $800 even though there are alternatives and i also refuse to use drop protection on this expensive device. Now i dropped it which is my fault and it broke the glas back which has no functionality and i can still use it. But for me it’s totally destroyed and i blame the manufacturer for this”
Wow way to misrepresent what I wrote. No I don’t “regularly” drop my phone, But it happens, and when it does it has ALWAYS been from a sitting position sliding out of my pants pocket, making the drop only about 30-45 cm. Most drop tests are done at 1m, and since the damage is exponential to the height, a drop of 30 cm maybe 3 or 4 times in the lifespan of the phone shouldn’t be a problem.
But thanks for the strawman argument.
Wow, blame the user for manufacturing decisions. Give me an example of alternative with quality camera, wireless charging, water resistance, …
I laughed at Apple (BTW Samsung too) for the aweful cutoff at the top of the screen, for the lack of headphone jack, SD card reader. Now it’s impossible to find powerful phone with these things. So please don’t blame users for stupid corporate decisions.
Also broken glass back compromises water resistance and could be safety hazard if the shards fall of.
