Image Credits: Printed Electronics
Third-party screen protectors, sometimes known as ‘Tempered Glass,’ are the most popular smartphone accessory in India. Buyers of all price ranges install a high-quality tempered glass on their smartphones as soon as they insert the SIM card. It seems, who would risk damage the screens of recently acquired smartphones when repair charges for expensive flagship handsets may reach Rs. 35,000?
Even the greatest third-party cover glasses cannot provide 100 percent protection. This is something I’ve learned the hard way. The Asus ROG 3 is a recent example, with the handset’s AMOLED screen cracking in half following a 4-foot tumble to the floor. Not to mention that the Asus ROG Phone 3 has Corning Gorilla Glass 6 protection, which offers outstanding durability, if not the finest in the industry.
This is only one example of an extreme situation. Regular scratches and slight bumps also degrade the sharpness of the phone’s screen and the overall user experience. With Schott AG’s new cover glass, things might alter in the coming months. The global glass corporation, headquartered in Mainz, Germany, specialised in the production of glass and glass ceramics and has declared aspirations to enter the Indian market. Schott has announced their newest cover glass, Xensation (Alpha), for luxury smartphones that would be released in India in the coming months.
The chemically reinforced lithium alumino borosilicate (LABS) cover glass will be used for the first time on new Vivo high-end flagship cellphones. Notably, the recently released flagship Vivo X70-series has Schott AG’s cover glasses for protection against any potential damage. What makes the new Xensation (Alpha) unique, and why may it usher in a significant shift in smartphone usage for premium customers in India? To discover out, we spoke with Dr. Lutz Klippe, Product Group Manager Cover at Schott AG.
Dr. Lutz Klippe considers the Xensation (Alpha) as a significant step in making smartphone screens completely impenetrable. The new cover glass is touted to be 100 percent drop-resistant when compared to LAS glass. What this means for end-users is that phones with the new Xensation (Alpha) will be twice as resistant to drops at twice the height as the cover glasses now on the market.
When questioned about the new cover glass’s durability criteria on various surfaces, Dr. Jochen Alkemper, Head of Product Development at Schott, stated, “On various surfaces, such as wood, asphalt, and sharp-edged surfaces, Xensation (Alpha) demonstrated much greater breakage resistance. For greater strength performance, the new glass combines the chemical strengthening properties of LAS glass with the scratch-resistance of borosilicate glass.”
He also informed us of the new cover glass’s optical performance. According to Dr. Jochen Alkember, the Xensation (Alpha) does not compromise optical performance integrity and will now impair the readability and viewing performance of high-resolution screens on premium cellphones.
We were anticipating a minor rise in the total cost of the future phones due to the new cover glass’s improved breakage resistance without sacrificing optical performance; however, Schott stated that it will not add any substantial cost to the final pricing. The future devices’ prices will not climb significantly.
All of this sounds great, but does the new cover glass genuinely make smartphone displays unbreakable? Not precisely, however, it does lower the likelihood of glass shattering. Schott states that glass still fractures depending on the surface it impacts; however if the smartphone comes pre-installed with the new Xensation (Alpha), the survival percentage is significantly greater.
