Windows phone 8.1 chassis?

[psudotechzealot]

There is a rumor out there the Galaxy S5 will have a metal(most likely aluminum) chassis. Galaxy S5 to come with metal body made by the company behind HTC One and iPad mini's chassis


Let say this rumor is true. WPC, do you think Windows Phone 8.1 should follow suit, or should they stick to polycarbonate or should they move into a new direction, and make them out of magnesium alloy VaporMg like the surface?



* In this instance, I mean premium Windows Phone 8.1s, not all of them.

 

[Nokia Boy]

Talking about chassis you mean the housing cover or the inside?

 

[rakesh1995]

Do people really believe that Samsung after making over 9000 plastic boxes will suddenly move to metal?
It will end up in death grip issue

Sent from my Uuusumm Lumia 520 using Tapatalk

 

[Divair]

I personally prefer the polycarbonate that Nokia uses for most of its phones.

 

[a5cent]

This thread would be more valuable if people also explained their choices or preferences. This is what I know (I'm not an expert):

Polycarbonate
+ Light
+ Scratches aren't easily visibly as the colour is part of the material (not just a coating)
+ Compared to aluminium, polycarbonate allows RF signals to pass through with zero interference, contributing to better reception and call quality
- Compared to aluminium, polycarbonate requires a thicker hull to offer the same amount of stiffness/stability/protection

Aluminium
+ Light
Beyond it's weight, aluminium exhibits the opposite strengths and weaknesses of polycarbonate

VaporMg
According to MS' marketing department, it is light and strong... woop dee doo... beyond that there is little information available. It's really hard to find out what VaporMg actually is, or what its actual material properties are. I do like the Surface device, but I'd have to know more before voting for it.

Other options:
I'd prefer a material that is better than what is currently available. My preferences are:

• Metallic Glass (LiquidMetal technologies is one company developing commercial applications for this material)
• or even better... Graphene:

Graphene

 

[smoheath]

I'd love a vapormg surface phone with chamfered edges. It is rather scratch prone, but I just love the look so much. I sure hope nokia-soft comes up with a surface phone that follows google's nexus line: High end, affordable, and off-contract.

 

[psudotechzealot]

This thread would be more valuable if people also explained their choices or preferences. This is what I know (I'm not an expert):




Other options:
I'd prefer a material that is better than what is currently available. My preferences are:

• Metallic Glass (LiquidMetal technologies is one company developing commercial applications for this material)
• or even better... Graphene:

Graphene

Hmmmm, good post a5cent. Have you tried sending Microsoft a letter explaining the benefit of Metallic Glass or Graphene and why should they use it in their products? It would be awesome if Microsoft used these material for their phones/tablets before Apple does.

 

[psudotechzealot]

Talking about chassis you mean the housing cover or the inside?

The build/housing cover.

 

[psudotechzealot]

Magnesium alloy

• Light weight

• Low density (two thirds that of aluminium)

• Good high temperature mechanical properties

• Good to excellent corrosion resistance

• Looks sexy

• Longer Die Life. (Magnesium's low heat content and low affinity for iron reduce the effect of thermal fatigue and die erosion. Dies last as much as two to three times longer, than those experienced with aluminum).

 

[a5cent]

Magnesium alloy

? Light weight
? Low density (two thirds that of aluminium)
? Good high temperature mechanical properties
? Good to excellent corrosion resistance
? Looks sexy
? Longer Die Life. (Magnesium's low heat content and low affinity for iron reduce the effect of thermal fatigue and die erosion. Dies last as much as two to three times longer, than those experienced with aluminium).

It's hard to get any real information on VaporMg. All we have is marketing materials, which are usually written to exaggerate all the positives and ignore all the negatives, while just barely slipping by as truthful. That is all we have...

You've listed the desirable properties of most magnesium alloys. That you haven't listed any of the negatives, which every material has, shows that it isn't a comprehensive assessment. Anyway, based on what I've read, the Surface's shell is injection moulded out of something else than VaporMg, so I'm not sure any of those positive properties actually apply.

Apparently, VaporMg is just the coating that is applied to the shell afterwards (the PVD treatment). Just like any coating, it too can crack and scratch. Particularly scratching is being widely reported. Anodized aluminium is terrible as far as scratching is concerned, which is why I wouldn't want a shell made entirely of aluminium, but as far as I can tell, VaporMg isn't much better (if at all). IMHO if the shell isn't scratch resistant, then it's not good enough for a smartphone. If that is all I can have, then I'd rather have a polycarbonate shell... yes, that will mean the shell must be somewhat thicker, but at least I don't have to slap an ugly case on it, nor worry about scratches, because although polycarbonate scratches just like any other material, scratching isn't as visible. As far as scratching is concerned, the self healing material on the LG G Flex is probably one of the more interesting coatings currently being applied to smartphones:

LG G Flex Self Healing Demo! - YouTube

Anyway, I'm hoping for something more impressive than a VaporMg coating, Aluminium or Polycarbonate. I suspect that ceramics would also be a very interesting choice, which is used as a component of tank armour, or virtually scratch proof Swiss watches... probably too expensive for a smartphone, but it would get me far more excited than a VaporMg coating:

 

[psudotechzealot]

It's hard to get any real information on VaporMg.

This is true, that why I let it out, and just went with Magnesium alloy.

You've listed the desirable properties of most magnesium alloys. That you haven't listed any of the negatives, which every material has, shows that it isn't a comprehensive assessment.

You did not ask for a list negatives. So I did not see the need to add it to my list, but............
Magnesium alloy disadvantage
? Prone to corrosion
? Many alloys have limited strength, especially at elevated temperatures magnesium alloys have low strength (but high strength-to-weight ratio)
? No fatigue limit
? Need protective coating to make it an anti corrosive material

Apparently, VaporMg is just the coating that is applied to the shell afterwards (the PVD treatment). Just like any coating, it too can crack and scratch. Particularly scratching is being widely reported. Anodized aluminium is terrible as far as scratching is concerned, which is why I wouldn't want a shell made entirely of aluminium, but as far as I can tell, VaporMg isn't much better (if at all). IMHO if the shell isn't scratch resistant, then it's not good enough for a smartphone. If that is all I can have, then I'd rather have a polycarbonate shell... yes, that will mean the shell must be somewhat thicker, but at least I don't have to slap an ugly case on it, nor worry about scratches, because although polycarbonate scratches just like any other material, scratching isn't as visible.

Fair point.

As far as scratching is concerned, the self healing material on the LG G Flex is probably one of the more interesting coatings currently being applied to smartphones:

LG G Flex Self Healing Demo! - YouTube

I actually agree with this, but the curved display does help IMO. Also, I must say, Marquise Brownlee is one of the best Youtube tech review. Wish he was a WP fan.

 

[a5cent]

You did not ask for a list negatives. So I did not see the need to add it to my list, but.............

Thanks for completing that list. Anyway, no discussion of material properties is complete without looking at both the positives and the negatives, so we shouldn't have to ask for both. My main point wasn't that you didn't provide a complete list, but that we don't have such a list for VaporMg. At best, we have some generic information on magnesium alloys...

I actually agree with this, but the curved display does help IMO. Also, I must say, Marquise Brownlee is one of the best Youtube tech review. Wish he was a WP fan.

;-) Yep

That is the only video I've looked at from him, but it's definitely more useful then LG's hyped advertising. I liked that he decided it was necessary to test for himself, and that he too noticed the overly warm testing conditions, under which the self healing affect is accelerated.

 

[psudotechzealot]

Thanks for completing that list.

No problem.

Anyway, no discussion of material properties is complete without looking at both the positives and the negatives, so we shouldn't have to ask for both. My main point wasn't that you didn't provide a complete list, but that we don't have such a list for VaporMg. At best, we have some generic information on magnesium alloys...

Understood, but do you think Microsoft will push the "chassis envelope", with the WP8.1 phones & the surface 3? Or do you think they will use either polycarbonate, "VaporMg", or Aluminum?

That is the only video I've looked at from him, but it's definitely more useful then LG's hyped advertising.

You should watch more of his videos.

 

[a5cent]

... but do you think Microsoft will push the "chassis envelope", with the WP8.1 phones & the surface 3? Or do you think they will use either polycarbonate, "VaporMg", or Aluminum?

I have no idea, but my guess is that from the midrange on down, polycarbonate is here to stay, simply because it offers the best performance/price ratio. I don't think polycarbonate is objectively worse than aluminium or VaporMg either... it just comes with a different set of strengths and weaknesses. Polycarbonate's biggest problem is that consumers don't find polycarbonate very luxurious (that something as common as aluminium is considered luxurious is ironic, but that's the way it is).

For the high-end, I do hope MS pushes something a bit more revolutionary. Particularly because the low sales volumes of high-end WP devices would make it perfect for such an endeavour. Due to the iPhone's very high sales volume, Apple has no choice but to depend on more traditional and established manufacturing methods. MS doesn't need to feel as limited, because there is no requirement to manufacture millions of devices per week.

I still have hope we can get something better then the current options, in part because Nokia is very involved in materials research, but I'm not expecting anything.