The question comes up with some regularity in watch forums: why don't mobile phones use sapphire screens? They actually have been used on a couple of luxury phones, but the cost keeps them off consumer phones. Some analysts are predicting that the price of synthetic sapphire is about to drop, which would make it affordable for phones and ubiquitous on watches.
Posted Mar 21, 2013, 9:09 PM UTC
It would be quite sensible. I know the iPhone 5 uses a sapphire crystal for its camera lens. Its kind of insane that my phone has scratches all over the screen and all its been doing is going in and out of my pockets while my watch has brushed up against concrete and metal and doesn't have a single scratch on it.
While Sapphire is quite hard and scratch resistant, it is also quite brittle. Considering the size of the screen on most phones, I would very concerned that vibration, flexion, or drops would cause the screen to shatter. Honestly, I think ion toughened glass, ala Gorilla Glass 1, 2, 3, and similar products will continue to be the de facto standards for toughened glass in phones for the foreseeable future.
It's not in their best interest to make their phones more durable or to last longer. It's up to the aftermarket companies to capitalize on sapphire screens.
Prices still need to come down an awful lot to justify sapphire over gorilla glass. Gorilla glass is pretty damn unscratchable - trying dragging your keys hard over your cell phone - bet you can't scratch it.
Would sapphire add to the weight? I enjoy a weighty watch, not a weighty cell phone. :/
I enjoy a weighty watch, not a weighty cell phone. :/
Respectfully disagree. I liked the weight and texture of the aluminum case on my OG Droid better than any phone before or since. It felt great.
I wish phone manufacturers would fuck off with their 5" wide, .3" featherweight plastic phone bullshit and bring back the "heavy" metal.
Since a few people have mentioned gorilla glass, are there any watches that use it for a crystal?
Sapphire screens would probably be more scratch resistant, but wouldn't they be more prone to shattering than stuff like gorilla glass?
EDIT: I started reading the article you linked AFTER I posted. According to that source, it would be both more scratch resistant AND shatter-proof.
EDIT 2: I would LOVE to see smartphones start using sapphire. I don't see that an extra $20 would pose a problem when off-contract phones are priced around $600 to $800 right now...