[Galaxy S 4 General] katamari201:
Nokia is releasing the 928 on Verizon soon, which will be a metal version of the 920. Nokia fans have been asking for a metal version of the phone, and they are getting it. It will be thinner to boot. The 920 isn't going away. It's still their flagship phone and available across multiple countries.

The point of this thread is not to say an aluminum phone is BETTER than the regular plastic one, or whether removable storage or battery is good or bad. Too many fans of the status quo are being defensive. I've already reiterated our MINORITY status. It is not a major block of consumers. But it is still a significant one. And metal always elicits a premium first impression compared to a plastic one, even if it may be less practical down the road. The point is CHOICES. There will undoubtedly be many versions of the S4, so why can't there be an aluminum one? Why are people offended by having an aluminum one as well? It's not replacing the plastic one. It's giving people more choices. I already said it could be low yield and sold online. It's like complaining about the red version of the S3 because you hate the color, but no one is forcing you to buy that color. It's just attracting a specific demographic and a certain subset of consumers, not the end all be all. Usually when a company like Samsung gets very big, it can support multiple versions of its products to please everyone. They've already done it with phone sizes, from 3.2" to 5.5". If you don't like burgers and fries, you can order pasta and a salad.

There are other premium materials, but this thread is specifically about an aluminum one. It has proven itself especially in Apple and HTC products. Everyone will have their own opinion about what is the best premium material, but this thread is focused specifically on the aluminum one. The focus is an aluminum unibody. Any sort of back cover will compromise the rigidty, the seamlessness, and the thickness of the phone. Just slapping a metal back cover on the S4 isn't gonna make it a metal phone. The body and frame that makes it feel rock solid in the hand needs to be metal. It also needs to have the cool and smooth feeling luxuriousness of metal. This is all preference of course, and if you prefer glass, carbon fibre, kryptonium, etc. and feel like making a thread, feel free to do so.

Well it would be good if it had those two things as well. But the point is I was trying to find things to compromise, and when it comes to metal phones a unibody design is the best. A lot of people don't need expandable storage or removable battery as can be seen by smartphone trends, but having it unibody makes it slimmer (the phone will undoubtedy become thicker) and more rigid.

You are exaggerating the effects of metal phones. There have been many metal phones with good reception, and the current HTC One has some stellar reception that beats many plastic phones. If you do it wrong, of course it will come out bad. But that is true for plastic phones as well.

Part of the "premium" feel of metal is its ability to feel cool to the touch, or warm up. Why would you even put metal to your face? You put the SCREEN to your face. That part also heats up very well, especially on plastic phones, since the back doesn't radiate the heat away like a metal phone would. People do use metal phones as hand warmers in the cold, by running something that warms up the back. Either way, you are exaggerating how much of a temperature difference a metal phone will be compared to a plastic one.