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Comment by rootusrootus | Hacker News Reader

What was wrong with the plastic screens a few phones had a few years ago? My wife had a Motorola from Verizon, some kind of droid, I don't recall the specific name (droid turbo 2, maybe?). It was basically a Verizon-specific version of the Moto X, but it had a plastic screen. We put a tempered glass screen protector over the top, and it was impossible to discern that the screen itself was plastic.

Edit: Went back and found a review of that phone, and I guess reviewers hated it. The screen wasn't as bright because the AMOLED screen wasn't bonded directly to a glass front. Oh well. My wife liked it just fine.

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Moreover, what happened with just putting a small border around the glass with a raised lip? I owned several generations of Droids that I seemed to drop constantly and this protected them every time. Modern phones are designed to be ultra-fragile with glass going right to the edge, so we can appreciate the elegance before we stuff them into a bulky case forever.

I agree. Apple is perhaps largely to blame for this. I am a happy iPhone customer, but I cannot deny that I don't really appreciate some of their hardware design choices. Very slippery, so the very first thing I do is put it in a case. So it doesn't matter if it's elegant and beautiful, it's in a TPU case so I don't drop it. Last time I had an iPhone that I didn't use a case for was the 4S. I still think that may have been peak iPhone in some ways.

I have a 13 Pro Max coming Monday, and guess what, sitting on my desk in front of me is the case it will go into immediately after I take it out of the package. Kinda sad. Someone said they're not as slippery as the older phones, but have sharp edges. Okay on something the size of a 4S, not so okay on something the size of a small tablet.

I love my iphone 4s and it was only a couple years back I got rid of it. I had replaced the screen multiple times, replaced the power button, replaced the ear speaker, I think it had a new home button. It was a frankenphone to say the least but I loved it for years. It could fit in your hand and you could text with only one hand. Sadly some of the apps stopped working and they began to force the new ios at the time to be able to use certain apps. So eventually, thought the phone was and still is functional is had not become obsolete.

I've been using my SE for 5 years now without a case nor a screen protector. The screen is fine, although the corners are a bit dinged from having been dropped and the back is quite scratched. Works fine, hoping to go another couple of years with it.

I had the opposite experience with my SE. I used screen protectors but never a case. Even then, I had to get the screen replaced 3 or 4 times and eventually it because irreparable because of dents in the back of the phone. I was also 21 and living it like.

I hope you can get a few more years out of your phone too!

Yeah I used the SE for years till it started failing internally. No case or screen protector, dropping it was never a concern because it was small enough to firmly hold in one hand.

Have the 12 Mini now which is the next smallest phone, but feel much less secure with it because I can't reach both the top and bottom of the screen at once with my thumb while holding it securely in one hand. Have to always be sliding up and down to reach what needs to be hit, which makes it much more likely to be dropped. Would kill for a proper small phone again.

How many buy new phones before they otherwise would have due to broken screens?

Plastic scratches very, very easily!

Yes, which is why the first thing we did was put on a tempered glass screen protector. Then the surface is glass. But if it breaks, it is easily replaced.

So does gorilla glass

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