What exactly is the 2.5D glass that manufacturers are always boasting about? Is it very powerful?

Since the release of iPhone 6 last year, there has been a whirlwind of 2.5D glass screen in the smartphone industry. Although it was not the first time that Apple used it, iPhone 6 did promote and lead the trend of 2.5D glass screen. Today we will briefly talk about what 2.5D glass screen is and what are its characteristics and shortcomings.

What is a 2.5D glass screen?

First of all, we need to clarify a concept. What we call 2D refers to a pure plane. Previously, the screen glass of the mobile phones we used was basically flat, and all the points on the glass were on the same plane. This kind of mobile phone screen glass is collectively called 2D screen glass.

2.5D glass screen means that although the middle area is also a flat surface like the general 2D glass screen, the 2.5D glass has a curved transition at the edge, that is, the edge is curved on the basis of the flat glass. This is the so-called 2.5D glass screen. In fact, 2.5D is just a general term in the mobile phone industry. There is no such technical standard as 2.5D.

3D glass generally refers to glass with a larger screen curvature, such as the LG G Flex series and Samsung's Galaxy Note Edge and Galaxy S6 Edge. These phones not only use curved glass on the surface, but also have a curved 3D screen on the electronic display panel, which is fundamentally different from 2D screen glass and 2.5D screen glass, which only use curved design on the glass surface.

How is the 2.5D glass screen achieved?

In fact, unlike curved screens, 2.5D glass screens do not have curved electronic display components. Flexible electronic circuits and crystal picture tubes require strong technical support and are extremely expensive. The 2.5D glass screen is just more complicated in terms of process than 2D screen glass, and there is no technical difficulty. It's just that the glass grinding process of the 2.5D glass screen will be excessively uneven during the processing, and there will be a certain loss in the yield rate. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of 2.5D glass screens will be slightly higher than that of 2D glass.

In terms of cost, according to a well-known domestic manufacturer, based on the manufacturing cost, a piece of 2.5D glass is about 3 to 4 times that of ordinary glass.

What are the characteristics and shortcomings of 2.5D glass screens?

The advantage of a 2.5D glass screen is that it greatly improves the appearance of the phone and enhances the user experience when using touch screen operations.

The 2.5D glass screen has a significant effect on improving the visual effect of the phone screen and the body. The 2.5D glass can make the surface of the phone look like a water drop that is full but not overflowing, which is more visually appealing. It feels like the screen is floating on the phone body. In addition, the curved shape of the 2.5D screen is more in line with ergonomic principles. The curved transition around the perimeter eliminates the harsh edges and corners, greatly improving the feel of sliding the screen.

The disadvantage is that it is very difficult to find a suitable film for a 2.5D glass screen phone. The films on the market are usually for 2D screen glass, and the 2.5D glass screen films often cannot cover the edge of the screen. Therefore, for most users who like to apply films on their phone screens, 2.5D screens are simply a nightmare. Fortunately, most of the current 2.5D glass screen phones use Corning's Gorilla Glass, which has good wear resistance and scratch resistance, so the phone screen is not so easily damaged.

The development history of 2.5D glass screen mobile phones

Before 2.5D glass screen phones became popular, Nokia was the first mobile phone manufacturer to use 2.5D glass screen design. In the Symbian era, Nokia used a 3D glass design with a larger curvature on the Nokia 7100.

The 2.5D glass screen became well known to us after the Nokia N9. Before that, Nokia's high-end Windows Phone models including the Lumia 800 basically used 2.5D glass screens. Even after Nokia sold its smartphone business to Microsoft, the Lumia 930 still used a 2.5D glass screen.

In addition to Nokia, Motorola's XT788, launched in 2012, also uses a 2.5D glass screen. The domestic Lenovo S820 also uses a 2.5D glass screen.

To date, many smartphones on the market have used 2.5D glass screens, including iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Moto X, Nexus 6, Samsung Galaxy Note 4, as well as domestic mobile phone manufacturers' Xiaomi Note top-end version, nubia Z9, vivo X5 Pro, etc.

The 2.5D glass screen greatly improves the appearance of the mobile phone, and the ergonomic design makes the user feel very good when using it. In addition, we mentioned the cost issue before. A piece of 2.5D glass is about 3 to 4 times the weight of ordinary glass, which may increase the manufacturing cost of the mobile phone, but the premium created by the 2.5D glass screen may often be higher than this 3 to 4 times cost. However, as the technology becomes more and more mature, and after large-scale application in more and more mobile phones, the cost of 2.5D glass will inevitably become lower and lower.

Although 2.5D screens have some shortcomings, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Therefore, 2.5D glass screens should become standard features of many flagship smartphones in the near future, just like fingerprint recognition.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.