We had the chance to talk with Dan Orr, who’s the product line supervisor and technique director for Corning Gorilla Glass. We requested concerning the 7i glass that was introduced right now, but additionally total tendencies within the trade.
Earlier this 12 months Samsung launched the Galaxy S24 Extremely – amongst its many spotlight options is Gorilla Glass Armor, generally known as simply “Gorilla Armor”. What makes it particular is the anti-reflective coating, which reduces reflectance by as much as 75%, which boosts readability.
Orr says that sturdiness remains to be essential, however now the optical properties of the glass are in focus too. Armor reduces reflections, improves mild transmittance (and with that outside readability too), plus coloration rendering.
Trendy OLED shows are technological wonders – we’re seeing panels that may push out 4,000-5,000 nits. That is one strategy to struggle glare and enhance readability exterior, but it surely comes at a price. Lithium battery tech has not stored up with OLED growth and people excessive brightness ranges definitely put a pressure on the battery.
With glass like Armor, the show can run at a decrease brightness, whereas nonetheless attaining the identical readability for the tip consumer. And should you occur to seek out your self at a seaside on the equator at midday, then the cellphone nonetheless has the choice to crank up the brightness. However for many conditions, this shouldn’t be vital.
Gorilla Armor (and related glasses) will turn out to be extra in style sooner or later, however for now, a minimum of, the Galaxy S24 Extremely has exclusivity.
Armor pulls from a number of branches of the Gorilla household – Victus, after all, but additionally issues like Gorilla Glass DX and DX+. DX was launched a number of years in the past to be used as glass cowl above smartphone cameras – it decreased the glare cameras undergo when pointed at vibrant mild sources.
Nevertheless, combining the assorted issues was not simple – the particular coating utilized by Armor can’t simply be utilized to any glass, a minimum of not with good outcomes. Corning designed the glass and the coating to work collectively – the ultimate consequence has the improved sturdiness and scratch resistance that we anticipate with the brand new enhanced optical qualities.
Circling again to Gorilla Glass 7i, it’s meant to fill the hole between Gorilla Glass 5 and the Victus sequence. There are already a number of mid-rangers with Victus, Victus+ and even Victus 2, so it’s not unique to flagships. Nevertheless, not all telephones can match it inside their budgets.
GG5, in the meantime, is a glass that launched in 2016, eight years in the past. And it’s nonetheless in energetic use even in 2024, with telephones just like the Nothing Cellphone (2a), Poco F6 Professional and others. final 12 months, there are much more – Poco F5, Xiaomi 13T, Galaxy A34. Some flagship units used it for his or her again covers, e.g. the OnePlus 11 and Oppo Discover X5 Professional.
However these are telephones with 6.7” to six.8” shows (and the again is identical dimension), whereas the typical display dimension in 2016 was simply 5.3”. Because of this GG5 was designed for a world the place telephones have been a lot smaller – and far lighter too. Trendy telephones are heavier partly as a result of their bigger dimension and in addition due to their bigger batteries. The inner construction of telephones has modified too, since bigger units are simpler to bend and flex, makers needed to make them stiffer and extra sturdy (and that provides extra weight).
The common cellphone weight in 2016 was 156g. some fashionable examples, the Galaxy S24 is 167g, the Zenfone 10 is 172g and the Pixel 8a 188g. And these are what go for “small” telephones nowadays, the 6.7+ inch fashions are sometimes over 200g. Bigger glass is extra susceptible. Heavier telephones make for stronger impacts. The mathematics doesn’t look good.
Gorilla Glass 7i is a seventh technology glass and it’s extra sturdy than its predecessors. Corning claims that it’s more durable than competing glasses on this phase too – able to surviving drops onto asphalt from 1m (3.3ft) top, twice the peak that may crack competing glasses. And 7i is alleged to have double the scratch resistance of these glasses too.
We’d prefer to thank Dan Orr and the group at Corning for speaking to us about what’s been occurring with smartphone glass and what’s but to come back.