The regular Galaxy Note 20, as the rumors have shown, will not make people happy. Except for the camera setup, the Galaxy Note 20 won’t have a lot of meaningful upgrades over the Galaxy Note 10. The Note 20 is expected to miss out on a 120Hz display and microSD slot and it’s even going to have an older version of Gorilla Glass protecting its screen.
That’s not all: While the Galaxy Note 10 used Gorilla Glass 6 on the back, the Galaxy Note 20 is said to be equipped with plastic, which is something we haven’t seen on a flagship Galaxy smartphone for a long, long time. But while I feel the Galaxy Note 20’s rumored asking price is a bit too much considering all the things it doesn’t have, I’m glad that plastic has made a comeback (no pun intended) to Samsung’s high-end phones.
Yes, I say high-end because the Galaxy Note 20 just doesn’t feel like a proper flagship – it’s got some specs that are poorer than even the base Galaxy S20 model. Still, I love that one of the ways Samsung has cut costs is switching to plastic for the rear panel.
Plastic's not as premium as glass, but it doesn't shatter upon impact
Glass backs are great for adding a premium feel to phones, but plastic backs are infinitely less worrisome to live with. The reason is simple: Plastic backs don’t crack if your phone falls to the ground without a case on. One already lives in constant fear of breaking their phone’s display, and a glass back makes things even worse, necessitating a case if you aren’t one of those ultra-careful people who never, ever drop their phones.
I’m not exactly careless, but there have been times when my phone has slipped out of my grasp, and the thought of having to spend money on getting the glass on the phone repaired means I always use flagship phones with a case. I don’t do that with mid-range and budget phones that I often use in order to review them, and it’s precisely because those tend to always have plastic rear panels.
Of course, this doesn’t mean Samsung will start using plastic for all of its flagship phones. Maybe the cheapest model in next year’s Galaxy S lineup and the Note 20’s successor, but otherwise, glass is most likely going to be Samsung’s material of choice for its top-of-the-line phones for the foreseeable future. And that means I won’t actually be getting any relief from phones covered by glass on both sides, because I don’t see myself ever buying the non-Plus or non-Ultra variant of any Galaxy flagship.
What do you think? Would you be okay with paying upwards of $900-1000 for a phone with a plastic back, or do you prefer the more premium feel that you get with glass? Let me know down in the comments!
