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Poll: What's your favorite material for the back of a smartphone?

Do you prefer glass or plastic? Or are you more of a vegan leather person"?
By
August 6, 2021
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G rear panel
Eric Zeman / Android Authority

It seems like almost every high-end smartphone on the market opts for a glass back these days, but it’s not the only material used on the back of phones though.

Other materials used for the rear cover include metal, plastic, glasstic (a glass-like plastic innovated by Samsung), ceramic, and vegan leather. But what’s your favorite? Give us your thoughts via the poll below.

What's your favorite material for the back of a smartphone?

4952 votes

It must be said that all of these options have their strengths and weaknesses. Glass, for example, can spiderweb and shatter, but enables wireless charging and water/dust resistance. Metal doesn’t play nicely with wireless charging but is very resilient to drops. Plastic is one of the most versatile options on the list, offering water resistance and not shattering like glass, but some feel it doesn’t have a premium look and feel.

Like the back of the Pixel 5? Well, it has a metal back with a bio-resin (i.e. plastic) on top of it. So we’d suggest voting for plastic if the Google phone is up your alley.

You can give us your favorite material via the poll above, and leave a comment below if you have more thoughts on the matter.