Robert Triggs / Android Authority
TL; DR
- The Samsung Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus could be made of plastic.
- Only the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is said to be equipped with a glass case.
Samsung may want to use more plastic and less glass in building its Galaxy S22 series of devices. According to a South Korean tipster (via ITHome) Samsung will use “brand new processing technology” to create the back of the Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus. However, rumor has it that both devices will be made of plastic instead of glass. According to the report, only the Galaxy S22 Ultra will have a glass back.
Both the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and the S21 Plus currently have a glass back. The Galaxy S21 is made of polycarbonate plastic as standard.
These latest rumors, combined with those we heard recently that Samsung reduced the screen sizes of the Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus, suggest that Samsung would like the Ultra model to stand out even more in the next year.
In addition to the larger display and the glass body, the Galaxy S22 Ultra is also said to be the only phone that has an LTPO display (low-temperature polycrystalline oxide).
Also read: The Best Samsung Phones You Can Buy Right Now
Samsung Galaxy S22 series: plastic vs. glass
We’ve seen a price drop on the Galaxy S21 models compared to their predecessors, and Samsung is likely to want to maintain that momentum with the next Galaxy S-series flagships. Switching to more plastic could also be a way for Samsung to offset the potentially higher cost of the new Snapdragon chipset or the Exynos chip with an AMD GPU that these phones are expected to offer.
That said, having plastic bodies isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, we really liked the plastic case of the Galaxy S21. Plastic phones are less prone to splintering than glass phones. They also don’t slip in your hand as much as glass phones, which makes them more durable. If Samsung is rumored to be developing the Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus using new proprietary technology, you can expect the phones to look as high quality as their glassy older siblings.
On the other hand, all of these are as yet unconfirmed rumors. The narrative could change a lot as we near the introduction of the phones. Until then, vote in our poll above and tell us what you think of the new Samsung flagships with plastic cases.
