Different Phone Bodies Types Explained

If you are searching for a new smartphone, there are various features to look for, that you should consider while purchasing. In terms of internal specifications and exterior designs, smartphones have come a long way. While choosing a smartphone, one of the hard choices to make apart from other specifications is the smartphone body. Here is the list of bodies available in the market across a wide variety of smartphones with their pros and cons: 

Metal bodies

The suitable adjectives to define the beauty of a smartphone are smoothness, elegance and sleekness. When it comes to strong metallic bodies, users are attracted by the sharper looks. Since hardware is an essential component of the smartphones, its maintenance becomes important and every user will prefer strong metallic bodies for their smartphones to ensure utmost shield from damaging. 

Pros

• The appearance of metal bodies is shiny, good and premium. Most of the people prefer polished metal and it appears expensive as well. 
• Metallic bodies are more durable and light than glass in most cases. Most devices with metal bodies have minimalist designs with nothing over the top. 
• The heat transfer rate of the metal bodies is greater than other materials and gives a good feel to your hands. 

Cons

• Light metals like aluminium get deformed permanently and more chances of dents if dropped. 
• During heavy usage, metal bodies get heated up quickly on the backside where the chipset and battery is.  
• Apart from being slippery, the metallic phones are tested and found that they inhibit wireless connectivity, data networks, Wi-Fi and even Bluetooth because the microwaves find it difficult to penetrate through the metal. 

Plastic bodies

Plastic is simple to produce and can be moulded into any shape, apart from this plastic is cheap which is the best thing about it and it comes in multiple vibrant colours. The reason for the bright and vibrant colours of most entry-level phones is that they are made from plastic. Plastic can be more sturdy than metals because it doesn’t bend and long-lasting than glass as it doesn’t shatter. But plastic bodies lack shine and it doesn’t appear premium like metal and glass. 

Pros

• Plastic features the best moulding ability and unique design.
• Due to the low density of plastic, it doesn’t hinder the wireless connections and hence no signal issues. 
• Plastic is much more sturdy than metal and glass and the mobile phones made from plastic last longer. 

Cons

• Since it appears cheap, it has been replaced by more shiny and reflective materials and the other reason is it doesn’t feel classy and premium.
• Plastic bodies suffer from discolouration with time and due to heat and climate changes the plastic bodies are stained over time. 

Glass bodies

Smartphones designed with glass look shiny and extremely gorgeous because of the transparent nature of the glass which adds depth to the mobile phone body. Nowadays, there are smartphones available in the market with glass on both rear and front and it looks great, but the brittle nature of glass makes it more vulnerable. 

Pros

• Glass bodies are more appealing and appear reflective and shiny, making the smartphone appear expensive. 
• Glass does not hinder the cellular signals and therefore Bluetooth, LTE and Wi-Fi work well without antenna or cutouts.
• The polished glass feels luxurious and ergonomic with heating issues than metals. 

Cons

• During summer times, Glass can slip easily from hands and becomes very slippery like a wet bar of soap. 
• We always fear breaking our display, when the whole body is made of glass, it adds to our worries as the glass can break easily. 
• Although glasses like Corning Gorilla Glass come with scratch resistance, they are still prone to scratches.  

Ceramic bodies

Ceramic bodies are almost corrosion resistant and harder than plastic and glass. Since the ceramic material is an insulator, there is no heat transfer through it and it’s lighter than metal. Apart from being expensive, it requires better handling, but we can’t deny that ceramic bodies are nice. 

Pros

• Ceramic bodies also allow radio waves to pass through them easily like glass and imply that Wi-Fi, LTE and Bluetooth won’t need any kind of antenna cut-out. 
• Ceramic is non-conductive to both electricity and heat, hence there isn’t any chance of heating up. 
• The highly polishing ability gives ceramic bodies a smooth finish and there are no irregularities.  

Cons

• Although ceramic is tough but still breakable, a little negligence will result in its breakage even before metal or plastic. 
• Ceramic with its strong polymer coating appears tough but still, the chances of scratches are there. 
• The smoothness of ceramic bodies makes them very slippery and while your hands and fingers are wet, you have to take extra care. 

Wrap up

So we have described all the pros and cons of these different smartphone bodies and you can choose a suitable one for yourself that fills your requirements after going through all these details.