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Your thoughts on sapphire glass

unnamedny

Android Expert
I just spent a few hours reading about sapphire glass which will be on smartphones soon, and I have few concerns and questions about the topic.

They claim that sapphire is harder than gorilla glass but does that mean it's shutter proof? Most articles are just high lighting how scratch proof that glass is. Following the logic, harder the material is, then it's more brittle. I've seen sapphire watches break as well as having micro scratches all over the watch face. Same myth of durability goes around diamonds which are supposedly forever. You can crash diamonds with hammer and sometimes they cracks as well.

None of the videos I've watched have the proof that sapphire is more crack or shatter proof than gorilla glass in actual everyday use. They bend it, they try to scratch it but most of reviewers never push it to the boundary of breaking it. Just because it's so "invisible" would it save your phone from accidental unlucky edge drop landing? Would it have more to do with shock absorption on the glass than the glass itself? Another way of saying would better engineering installation of the glass would prevent your phone from shattering?

Kyocera Brigadier already has sapphire glass, but it's a rugged phone and it's made for rough use. So it's glass is far more protected than any other future phone's screen.

Would it worth getting a smartphone featuring sapphire glass in the future or gorilla glass 3 is tough enough?
 
Many reviewers do exactly the same thing as every other reviewers, which is why I don't watch these reviews, or read many of them anymore. They say that sapphire is better, but you should get that phone just to test it out yourself. Don't break it though, just use it normally and see if you yourself notice a difference between the two different glasses.
 
Not sure about sapphire glass, but I had a watch with a sapphire crystal, supposed to be better than diamond, that never ran right.

From Natural Gemstones Chemical composition
Rubies - are made up of mineral called corundum, which comprises of aluminum oxide. Corundum is basically aluminum oxide in the crystal form. The traces of chromium found in it are responsible for its bright red color. It is the next hardest stone after diamond.
Sapphires - are also made up of corundum. Sapphires come in various colors, which is attributed to the presence of trace elements such as iron, titanium and chromium. Some rubies and sapphires contain rutile crystals, leading to a star effect in the star sapphire. Both yellow sapphire (pukhraj) and blue sapphire (neelam) are made up of corundum, it is the difference in trace elements present which causes a difference in the colors of these stones. There is also an orange sapphire, with a beautiful pink undertone. Sapphires are also found in more colors such as purple, pink and white.

I suppose it would depend on what they are using in the manmade and the process.
 
It cannot be sapphire crystal that is used on watches. It wouldn't be thick enough on a phone screen and would be very brittle. This is all marketing.
 
I think its best to wait and see what happens in real world use because there can be some bias while making these reviews and videos.
 
Vertu have always used synthetic sapphire on their phones. But they're reassuringly expensive though, starting at around $3,000 each, no carrier subsidy available.
 
Let me rephrase..

Apple is said to be using a composite containing sapphire. They already use straight sapphire on the home button, or whatever that is (I'm someone will correct that)
 
There is an interesting article at phonearena.com on sapphire vs. Gorilla Glass today.

Sapphire vs Corning's Gorilla Glass: what is sapphire and is it really tougher?

My takeaways:
  • Sapphire is obviously tougher, but can still break when dropped.
  • $25 vs. $3 for a screen. Don't think only of manufacturing costs, but also screen replacement.
  • Glass is more translucent, meaning that sapphire will make your screen dimmer and have a negative impact on battery life at equivalent brightness.

I'll take Gorilla Glass.
 
The composite that is said to be used on production phones was said to lack the strength, but was supposed to address the issue with the dimmer screens. If it were pure sapphire, it would likely be way stronger then gorilla glass, but would suffer horribly from the dim screen problem and would be thick as heck.

Guess time will tell there.

I'll still stick with gorilla glass no matter. A screen protector is cheap so there is the scratch resistance. lol
 
Sapphire Glass? This is nothing but a marketing ploy to reel in uneducated consumers - hook, line and sinker. Gorilla Glass serves its purpose just fine.
 
Gorilla Glass serves its purpose just fine.
At least until they are done developing transparent aluminum.
scotty.jpg
 
I think it will catch on... marketing wins. and apple is the best marketing machine.
2016... all top end devices will have sapphire

how about tablets? sapphire handle bigger screens size???


wait.. just thought of next gen flexible screens... promises NO shatter screens.
how will sapphire compete with that?

note.. I think flexible screens are prone to scratches by nature. (just a guess)
 
I think it will catch on... marketing wins. and apple is the best marketing machine.
2016... all top end devices will have sapphire

how about tablets? sapphire handle bigger screens size???


wait.. just thought of next gen flexible screens... promises NO shatter screens.
how will sapphire compete with that?

note.. I think flexible screens are prone to scratches by nature. (just a guess)

It probably will catch on. .
How else will they justify charging $500 for a device that would be $300 with Gorilla Glass 2 or 3..

And flexible doesn't mean more scratch prone. The sapphire glass is supposed to be very scratch resistant, but why would anyone want to spend extra cash on a feature like that when a decent screen protector can accomplish the same thing for much less? Sadly though it may be a crappy marketing ploy, people will still buy in because it's "NEW AND IMPROVED" and who doesn't want to be in the cool kids club with the new tech?

Half of the features of phones these days don't have any practical use for most people, but it's new so.. Just like with cars.. I mean really, heated seats? An on board nav system? Most phones have GPS built in, why get something with a gps system built in, and a warm ass is just a thermal away.. ?
Because it's new..

lol
 
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