Will borderless phones be resistant to drops?

When it comes to borderless, most people think of borderless protection, where the glass is directly connected to the middle frame. However, this is not the case in reality, because absolute borderless does not exist. We have learned that traditional LCD panels all use a rectangular design, and there is always a black area around the panel that cannot display. In fact, this is because traditional LCD panels need to place the gate driver circuit in the border area, so even if the width of the non-display area is reduced as much as possible, it cannot be eliminated in the end, otherwise the LCD panel will not work.

At present, the so-called borderless mobile phones we see are roughly divided into two types. One is to achieve borderlessness by visual deception. It is called borderless, but in fact it relies on the theme wallpaper to keep the border color consistent, giving people a visual feeling of borderlessness. This situation is actually far from borderless, and it is actually still a regular mobile phone, so we will not discuss it too much today.

The second method also uses the principle of visual deception, but it is more sophisticated and closer to the real borderless. It mainly uses the principle of optical refraction. The edge of the screen panel of the mobile phone is specially cut on the bevel to produce a "lens" effect, and the black edge of the panel below the glass is "hidden" through the refraction of light. In this way, the edge of the glass can completely cover the front of the phone, giving people a visual feeling of "borderless". However, the disadvantage of this method is that the screen will protrude and become thicker. When the borderless gimmick was popular some time ago, there was a saying on the Internet that the thicker the screen glass, the stronger the toughness of the glass, and the more resistant it may be to falling. I think this netizen should be asking this question, and this is exactly the topic we are going to discuss today.

Now that we have briefly introduced the form of borderless mobile phones, let's answer the following question. In fact, theoretically speaking, no matter how thick or thin the mobile phone screen is, and whether it has a middle frame for protection or not, it will not be very resistant to falling. After all, glass is unstable. Although the increase in the thickness of the currently known borderless mobile phones can indeed increase the hardness of the glass itself, this type of borderless mobile phone is still not much different from conventional mobile phones in terms of drop resistance. Of course, when discussing this topic, we also have to consider the glass material of the screen and the protective design of the entire machine, although this is only a difference within a certain range of impact resistance.

Why are smartphone screens not resistant to falling?

Let's first talk about why screens are not shatter-resistant. The simplest explanation is that mobile phone screens are now made of glass. The resistance of glass to falling is limited by the microstructure of glass (inter-ionic force), and it is impossible to be more impact-resistant than other types of substances, such as molecular crystals.

Take polycarbonate plastic PC as an example. The impact resistance of PC reaches 55KJ/M2, which is relatively good among plastics. It is often used for injection molding of mobile phone housings, car lampshades, switch panels, etc. These products have high requirements for the impact resistance of materials. However, the impact resistance of PC cannot be improved indefinitely, which is determined by its own molecular structure. Similarly, the impact strength of glass also has an upper limit, and this determining factor lies in its own structural components. Of course, the specific reasons still need more professional explanations. The editor is not an insider and can only answer theoretically.

Within a certain range, theoretically, the impact resistance of glass can be improved. However, as an industrial product, the screen needs to balance various parameters during mass production, and needs to consider light transmittance, wear resistance, hardness, anti-fingerprint, etc. It is relatively simple to improve a single parameter, but it is more difficult to ensure the balance of various parameters.

For example, the screen requires light transmittance, and if you want to improve toughness, you have to strengthen the glass fiber, but if you strengthen the glass fiber to a certain extent, it may not be transparent. Therefore, it is not that the impact resistance of glass cannot be greatly improved, but if this property is greatly improved, other properties may decline.

It is also worth mentioning that cost constraints and the self-protection mentality of manufacturers. Cost issues do make it so that products that can be mass-produced and used by the general public are not very sophisticated. As for the self-protection mentality of manufacturers, it is easier to understand. The lack of drop resistance can speed up the user's replacement cycle. From the perspective of maintenance, the money spent on replacing the screen may be enough for the user to buy a new machine. The so-called regular scrapping, if the product is too perfect, who would have the desire to replace it with a new one?

Therefore, no matter what form the mobile phone takes, we should try our best to protect it and not throw it around. After all, no matter how good the design of the mobile phone is or how meticulously the middle frame is protected, the screen is still just glass.

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.