There’s plenty to like about the current state of smartphones — their reliability, their extended, expansive software support, the sheer quality of components involved — but I’d argue the industry’s design language is at the front of the pack. In 2024, most flagship devices look and feel great, utilizing high-quality materials like aluminium, glass, titanium, and stainless steel to create something that can stand up to scrutiny over that four-digit price tag.
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And yet, despite all of the time, money, and skill spent building premium smartphones that feel as impressive as a piece of jewelry, the average user slaps a bulky case on their phone the moment it leaves its box. It’s understandable — again, we’re talking about four-digit price tags in most cases, and no one wants to drop extra cash on a repair job after an accidental drop. But if utilizing these high-end materials ultimately means hiding the work that designers at Samsung and Google spent years developing, isn’t it time to rethink the entire industry?
Every phone is pretty — and pretty breakable
Your Pixel looks good until it’s hidden by a case
Looking over some of my favorite smartphones of the year, it’s easy to see the problem at hand. Google’s Pixel 9 Pro is one of the most beautiful devices I’ve ever held, and yet, nearly four months after its launch, I can hardly stand using it without a case. Its metallic frame looks stunning during unboxing, but in practice, it’s really slippery, especially if you’re doing anything that has your hands sweating. That massive camera bump stands out among the crowd, but it’s practically destined for doom — cosmetic or otherwise — if it falls onto a concrete floor.
As much as I might like my collection of Pixel 9 Pro cases, I shouldn’t have to feel like this $1,000 phone’s survival — not to mention its very usability — depends on a collection of plastic and rubber accessories. It’s a problem that affects the rest of Google’s flagship lineup this year, too. Even the Pixel 9’s matte band is undone by the glossy glass on the back of the phone.
It’s not just Google, of course. While the Galaxy S24 Ultra fares better in the grip department, even Samsung had to make concessions to protect that titanium frame from damage. Rather than matching the frame to whatever color choice you made at checkout, every S24 Ultra wraps the same gray titanium band around the phone. I understand why — Apple had difficulty with scratches on phones like the blue iPhone 15 Pro Max I reviewed a year ago — but all that means for the end-users is a worse design.
The list doesn’t end with Samsung and Google’s flagships, of course. From the slippery curved edges of the OnePlus 12 to the fragility of, well, every foldable ever made, smartphones are really breakable these days, especially if you’re trying to go caseless. For as refreshing as stainless steel and sleek Gorilla Glass finishes over the last decade, I’m starting to look far more fondly on the days of well-crafted plastic devices. At least I could trust how they’d age over time.
It’s time to bring plastic back to smartphones
Or, at the very least, smarter phone design
In my mind, just two 2024 smartphones really delivered the best representation of what I think mobile design could and should be: the Pixel 8a and the regular iPhone 16. And since this is an Android-centric site, let’s start with the Android phone.
I love the Pixel 8’s core design. Sure, some sacrifices are clearly there for the sake of hitting its target $500 price point. I don’t care much about its bezels, though I know some people do (really, if not for the bottom chin, I wouldn’t think about its bezels at all). The matte plastic back might seem like a cut corner, but in practice, it feels great in the hand. It’s durable, of course, but it’s also fun, with bright color options to match an overall friendly design. This thing, with its rounded corners and relatively low weight, feels incredible in the hand. I wouldn’t dream of slapping a case on it.
Then there’s the iPhone 16. Set aside iOS 18 for a second — terrible as it may be — and just look at the core design. While I think Apple’s decision to use a vertical arrangement for its lenses was the wrong call, the rest of the phone is exactly what I’m looking for in my smartphones. It’s about as lightweight as you’ll find in 2024 — only the Galaxy S24 has it beat by a couple of grams — and the all-matte finish means it’s not slippery in the slightest. Sure, it’s still using glass on the back, which I’d rather avoid for fear of shattering it. But at least it’s got colors. Both the teal and ultramarine tints are some of my favorite smartphone looks in ages.
Again, neither of these designs are perfect, even expanding beyond the bezels and wobbly camera bump, respectively. But of the dozens of phones I’ve used as my daily driver this year, these were the two that felt closest to a compromise-free experience.
I’m not saying phone cases won’t or shouldn’t exist. In both cases, I’ve refrained from using a case outside of specific situations: traveling, heading to the gym, and so on. But, for the vast majority of people — specifically those working white collar jobs that don’t necessitate bringing your smartphone to a space where any gadget could easily break — I think smarter design trends could make protective accessories more of an optional, situation-based rarity, rather than the accepted norm.
This sort of shift would deliver benefits well beyond comfort and portability. The next time you buy a smartphone, you wouldn’t be adding additional accessories to your cart alongside it, saving you a decent chunk of change depending on what your case budget usually is. It also would stop you from having to dispose of old cases for smartphones you might not own anymore, cutting down on waste in the process. Really, the only people not slated to benefit from this sort of design shift are case manufacturers — and, of course, the OEMs themselves, who almost universally sell overpriced first-party shells alongside their respective smartphones.
If smartphones are appliances, let’s rethink their design
And really, that’s why I don’t expect to see this sort of design trend change any time soon. The smartphone accessory industry is simply too big to disappear at this point, with these cases practically mandatory add-ons at checkout. Still, the Pixel 8a and iPhone 16 give me hope for a future that feels a lot more whimsical, fun, and comfortable to use than the vast majority of the big, heavy, metal bricks we have today. More like iPods, less like high-end watches.
I don’t expect the Galaxy S25 or Pixel 10 to make the swap to plastic, but I’d love to see more companies think about their devices as a utility, not as a piece of jewelry. If we’re supposed to use these smartphones for upwards of 5 years now, they should be designed to survive, not to look pretty in ads before slapping it in a big, rubber bumper. Because, frankly, if something needs to rely on a case to get through its planned lifespan, I’m not sure it’s well-designed at all.
Plastic smartphones can be premium — here’s why
Metal and glass can make your phone heavy and brittle, leading to an experience that’s less than premium
