CNET had a chat with YH Lee, Samsung’s executive VP of mobile business, who appears to confirm that the upcoming Galaxy S IV will continue Samsung’s trend of making their devices from a light, thin plastic despite most other manufacturers going for a more premium look-and-feel for their recent devices.
Lee told CNET that Samsung consider a number of factors when designing their devices, not just aesthetics, and an important factor for them is how quickly they can manufacture a large quantity of the handset, considering that Samsung is the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world.
Apparently, the Galaxy S IV will strike a balance between the need to manufacture a lot of phones very quickly, and the customers’ desire for a premium-feeling product. I guess we’ll have to wait until next week to see whether Samsung’s next big thing will live up to Lee’s claims.
Looks like ill be upgrading from s2 to the xperia z. Was hoping the s4 wouldn’t be plastic.
I went from a I9000 (S1) to an I9100 (S2) and kind of sick of the whole plastic thing. Time for a switch methinks!
Fill ya boots my friend – There’s plenty of other handsets out there. Personally, I’ll take the access to batteries and SD/SIM cards every day over the more restrictive metal/glass alternatives. Which incidentally won’t be seen or felt by those who fit protective cases anyway.
I never have trouble with a plastic back.
It give grip, it’s drop resistant, it’s molded into an ergonomic curve. It often peels off to get at battery and cards. It’s light.
No stress on this for me, though bloggers and commenters will whinge about it for another year.
If it uses cheaper materials, the price should also be lower(it won’t be).
In a $700 phone, the cost of the casing is pretty minor.
It will sell in bucket-loads regardless…….and the beauty of a free market economy is the ability to choose a product on the criteria you hold dear.
You can have expensive components in a cheap desktop casing and it won’t be cheap as well.
Many use cases which make it a moot point anyway
I find Samsung’s mobiles more durable than more ‘premium’ brands like Apple and HTC anyway. I’ve only ever seen about 3-4 cracked Galaxy S II+III screens ever. Compare that to about 100 iPhone, and about 30 HTC. Plus, Samsung phone’s feel better to the touch also. That’s just my opinion. Galaxy S III feels strong as bricks in my eyes. Twist a One X and twist a S III and tell me what one has more flex. Less flex = more durable.
My HTC one x doesn’t flex at all…
Maybe that explains why my girlfriend’s died in 3 weeks after purchase without any misuse then. Does your backlight bleed at the bottom of the screen (navbar)? Hers is shocking. You can actually see the LED’s… I wasn’t happy with the build quality of it overall. Screen went white when touched a bit hard too. Her Unibody unclipped from the screen in the first 3 days too. I take it we just got a VERY bad unit?
I wouldn’t call HTC a more “premium” brand compared to Samsung though
Still better than aluminum. That stuff is malleable,scratches and dents more easily and is more expensive to replace. Could also disturb signals. I would prefer a lighter material be it plastic so I can add a case and still be light.
Few days ago u made a post that it comes it 16/32/64 storage and now saying its plastic…..seriously….now make a post saying it will have removable battery, micro usb and sd card slot
I wish we could! Unfortunately, we can only go on what we know.
Still stronger than any iPhone, ever.
So is a tamagotchi, doesn’t make it feel better.
Now I want a tamagotchi phone!
“Could you hold the line for a sec, my phone just pooped”