Change my thoughts: Fashionable telephones are too rattling slippery

As somebody who opinions cellphone circumstances for Android Authority, I don’t typically use a unadorned smartphone. After I get a brand new machine, it’s practically all the time to overview circumstances. However when the Google Pixel 9 got here in, I made a decision to do one thing completely different. After I had completed testing method too many Pixel 9 circumstances, I made a decision to reveal all of it and use the cellphone with out a case for a number of days.

And man, what a mistake. The entire grip and luxury that I choose circumstances on was instantly thrown out the window as I held on to the cellphone for expensive life.

Glass sandwich designs with metallic rails definitely look good, however in apply, they’re extraordinarily slippery. Even the buttons are practically flush with the edges, which, once more, appears nice, however supplies completely nothing to carry on to.

If I needed to describe my expertise in a single phrase, it might be demanding. Each time I pulled that $800 bar of cleaning soap out of my pocket, it felt like I used to be enjoying a spherical of Squid Sport simply to examine my electronic mail.

The cellphone didn’t fare significantly better after I set it down. The raised digital camera bar meant that solely a fraction of the again was touching the floor, so any slope in any respect would trigger the cellphone to slip onto the ground. It was someway worse than setting the cellphone display down, which, so far as I’m involved, is a cardinal sin within the tech world.

Wanting on the different current smartphones I’ve examined, plainly at this level, everyone seems to be favoring aesthetics over usability.

Clearly Apple’s iPhones are the unique offenders, however the Samsung Galaxy S24 collection follows the very same design rules. Actually, the frosted again of the Galaxy S24 is much more slippery than the Pixel 9.

And for what? To allow them to look higher in promoting images? I see no sensible benefits to glass sandwich smartphones in the case of really utilizing (and even holding) the machine. We will fake that that is progress, however in actuality, all the features of extra resistant supplies like Gorilla Glass Victus 2 are misplaced should you drop the cellphone twice as typically.

The one benefit is for OEMs like Apple, Samsung, and Google, who can upsell you on a case you in any other case wouldn’t want.

For reference, the cellphone I’ve used the longest is the OnePlus 8 Professional from 2020. With a glass again and a waterfall display, it looks like a tool on the turning level for smartphone designs. It’s nonetheless a glass sandwich, but it surely doesn’t have the slick, flat aluminum rails that Apple inflicted on the smartphone world with the iPhone 12 later that 12 months.

Should you return a number of years in OnePlus’ historical past, you’ll find telephones with unbelievable grip and nice aesthetics. The sandstone end on the very first OnePlus cellphone again in 2014 was an iconic a part of the design, and though the model has since adopted glass backs, it nonetheless sells first-party sandstone circumstances. That’s what I used on my OnePlus 8 Professional for years.

Across the identical time interval, the Nokia Lumia lineup typically featured matte plastic backs that weren’t solely extra grippable however may be swapped out. Others, just like the LG G4, had a spiffy leather-based backing that added grip and regarded nice. The bamboo backing on the Moto X is one other instance.

These days, a number of telephones supply fascinating backing supplies, however they are typically area of interest. The Poco X6 Professional is one, with a vibrant yellow pleather backing, however the remainder of the cellphone leaves so much to be desired. Others, just like the OnePlus 11 Jupiter Rock version, are extra of a press piece than a real mainstream product.

Apple, Samsung, and Google have continued to tug from the identical design language for practically 4 years, solely altering the form and placement of the digital camera bump.

So, what’s one of the simplest ways to get texture in your glass sandwich cellphone? You guessed it, a case.

My present favourite case, the Mous Limitless, is available in leather-based, bamboo, walnut, material, aramid fiber, and acetate finishes. Nevertheless, it’s restricted to only a part of the cellphone’s again. The perimeters are fabricated from a thicker hybrid materials for higher drop safety and grip.

There are full-leather circumstances from Bellroy or Mujjo (for iPhones, not less than), microdot grips from dbrand and Caseology, and much more delicate patterns just like the Casetify Ripple. All of them supply much more grip than the naked aluminum and glass builds you discover in trendy smartphones.

I perceive that some individuals worth the thinness of contemporary smartphones, and though I nonetheless suppose you’re flawed, there are alternatives for this, too. The Mous Tremendous Skinny is the thinnest case I’ve examined, however cheaper Spigen choices are additionally nice. Thinborne even makes a skinny case that’s coated in aramid fiber.

What’s going to it take for smartphone producers to not less than experiment with these supplies? Are we going to be caught with glass sandwiches endlessly? It’s been 4 years, greater than sufficient time for an additional paradigm shift.

After a number of days, I used to be able to run again into the open arms of my favourite case. Perhaps I’m biased after spending so many hours testing them, but it surely actually does really feel just like the true smartphone expertise begins if you slap a case in your shiny (and slippery) new machine.

That’s my opinion, and now it’s time for yours. Should you don’t suppose trendy smartphones are slippery, head to the feedback part and inform me why I’m flawed — see should you can change my thoughts on this! I’ll do my finest to answer as many feedback as attainable to get the dialog going. Additionally, be at liberty to share should you do agree with me — I’d like to see who’s on my aspect.