[Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra] Se7enthSe7en:
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New generation flagship smartphones are coming with a wide variety of different body materials used. Most commonly for the back or full body of a phone are Plastic, followed by Glass, Metal, Ceramics and Leather. Each material has its specific characteristics to meet requirements, from flexible, to hard, to scratch- resistant.

The launch of Samsung’s and OPPO’s new flagship devices showcasing differences of materials used for the phone’s back. Whereas the Galaxy S22 Ultra comes as Glass back (Corning Gorilla Glass Victus), the Find X5 Pro’s back is microcrystalline Ceramic.

Glass vs. Ceramics

The main difference between glass and ceramics is that glass is non-crystalline while ceramic is crystalline. Silicon dioxide is the main component of glass, while clay is the main component of ceramics. Each material characteristic reacts differently to heating; Ceramic shows a better behavior on high temperatures than glass, which plays out well for the overall device temperature.

Vickers Hardness Scale: Ceramic 1200-13000 HV, versus glass, which has a rating of 600-630 HV

Due its complexity in manufacturing and material hardness, the cost for material- and production of Ceramics is much higher compared to Glass.

A look at OPPO Find X5 Pro’s Ceramic Back:

It’s said that OPPO found inspiration for the design from nature in that “there are no straight lines or sharp corners in nature”, with the intention to create the back cover as gentle flow around the camera lenses in a “volcano-like” form.

The design itself isn’t the challenge, but the production out of ceramic due to the material complexity. The Find X5 Pro is made of microcrystalline hot-forged at 1,000-degrees Celsius, which results in a fingerprint-resistant texture while making it twice as strong as glass, allowing a better heat performance.

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The point: Ceramic cannot be formed like glass, its size shrinks after calcining it making it extremely challenging to achieve the required dimensions. OPPO’s engineers have invented a process which sees the ceramic rear panel carved with over 2,000 individual control points used to create its seamlessly organic curves.

A perfectly machined, premium ceramic rear cover takes five whole days to produce, with a yield of 97% compared to 87%, a completely new four-axis polishing process refines the machined edges for a smoother finished look, enabling a precision of up to 0.005mm.

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My takeaway

Personally, I never used a phone with Ceramic for long-term, but all different devices made of Plastic, Leather, and Glass. Where Glass intends to break easily when falling, plastic proved its flexibility and saved me many repair cycles already. The last ceramic phone I tested was Xiaomi’s Mi Mix 4 with Ceramic unibody. Overall I had a great experience, the handset’s appearance was lit. Seeing OPPO’s dedication to the design and materials used for Find X5 Pro, I believe that it's not just one of these specials that brings flagship device users the difference, but makes it more premium than any other smartphone.

What about you? Glass, Ceramic, Plastic.. What's your fav.?