Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20 is made out of plastic (or glasstic as the firm calls it), but is this a worrying trend or should we welcome it?
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20 looks like a solid step above the Note 10 based purely on specs. Between the flagship-level power, bigger battery, and a set of rear cameras borrowed from the Galaxy S20 series, there’s a lot to like. However, one major change that has drawn attention and a fair share of criticism is the company’s decision to adopt a plastic build — similar to its Galaxy A series — instead of the metal and glass design seen on the Note 20 Ultra and every flagship Galaxy phone since the Galaxy S6. But is this really such a big deal? Is it really not okay to have a plastic — sorry, “Glasstic,” as Samsung calls it — flagship phone in 2020? Right away, this decision will undoubtedly lead some to question whether a phone that costs $1,000 really should have a plastic design in the first place. This is kind of obvious, but glass is a more expensive material than plastic, so it’s understandable if users feel like Samsung is cutting back purely to snatch a higher profit margin. Furthermore, plastic has traditionally been viewed as the material of choice for budget phones because of its cheap material cost. As a result, many the look and feel of plastic/polycarbonate with cheap phones — or even plastic toys — rather than a premium device. It doesn’t help that basically every top-tier smartphone brand shifted to glass designs long ago — Apple, Huawei, OnePlus, Google, the list goes on. This includes OEMs like Realme that make affordable flagships that are almost half the price of the Galaxy Note 20. The proof is in the pudding though, and our own Eric Zeman reckons that the Galaxy Note 20’s and so-called “Glasstic” design, “doesn’t feel terrible.
