Why do mobile phones like to show their backs more and more? Behind it is the maturity of the industry

In mobile phone evaluation articles, the appearance part is a very important content. Whether you are “appearance Association” or not, the appearance of mobile phone will affect consumers’ purchase decision to a certain extent. But in terms of the appearance of mobile phones, in recent years, compared with the front, the exposure rate of the back design of smart phones has increased significantly in the past few years, and more and more like to show “back figure” on the product details page. < / P > < p > from the classic “traffic light” type multi camera combination in 2017 to the matrix array array emerging in recent years, with different materials, colors, textures, etc., a variety of highly recognizable back designs are formed. Even ordinary consumers who are not familiar with the mobile phone circle can see which mobile phone it is by looking at the back of the mobile phone, such as Huawei mate30 series with ring design and matrix camera of iPhone 11 series, etc. the popular classic design gives the mobile phone symbolic significance. < / P > < p > in contrast, the current smart phone front recognition is not so high. Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish the mobile phone when the screen is turned off. However, when the mobile phone is turned on or turned over, it suddenly becomes clear. Why? Do designers put inspiration on the back of mobile phones? In a sense, this is an inevitable development of the comprehensive screen, but also a mature performance of the mobile phone industry. < / P > < p > we trace the time back to 10 years ago. At that time, in addition to the name introduction on the product packaging, some classic models could accurately call out their names by looking at the front face of the mobile phone without looking at the packaging. For example, the very classic Nokia 5230, especially the white version, was used by my high school female monitor at that time. Both the appearance and the mobile phone were the focus of the class. Of course, this is another story. In the past, ZTE used the same kind of exaggeration except for the classic model of Nokia c8850. At 1 a.m. on June 8, 2010, the iPhone 4, a mobile phone with enough history, was released. In my opinion at that time, this mobile phone changed the development route of smart phones, especially the physical buttons on the front. It was found that even if there was only one physical button on the front, it would not affect the use of the mobile phone. At the same time, it also pointed out the development direction of high integration and integration. < / P > < p > later, almost every generation of iPhones led the trend of mobile phone design at that time. Even now, we can see the design elements of that time, such as the antenna design on the iPhone 6. Of course, there are also some unique trendsetters in the market, such as Nokia 800, Nokia 1020 and Huawei P1, which are not out of date today. In retrospect, mobile phones are like thousands of models on the table, but to a deeper level, it is more like an exploration of a problem – how will the appearance of mobile phones be designed in the future? In 2016, there’s a seemingly good answer to this question. It’s called the full screen, which simply means “the front is full of screens.”. < / P > < p > on October 25, 2016, Xiaomi mix was officially released. One of the biggest highlights of this mobile phone was the introduction of a comprehensive screen design idea. For the first time, it realized the design of no logo on the whole machine and no physical buttons on the front. In addition, the design of narrow border on three sides made this mobile phone look very amazing at that time. The subsequent millet mix 2 and millet mix 2S continue and strengthen this design. Although the location of the front camera makes people care a little, anyway, the existence of Xiaomi mix has opened a good start for the development of subsequent full screen models. < / P > < p > in the following years, a variety of full-scale screens have sprung up, such as Huawei mate10 pro’s 18:9 full screen, iPhone X’s “bangs” full screen, Samsung’s S8 full view curved screen, vivo nex and oppo find X’s elevating full screen, “water drop” full screen, etc. In particular, the two models of vivo and oppo basically realized the visual effect of “full front screen” by hiding the front camera through mechanical structure. This screen scheme seemed very shocking at that time. Passers-by had to go in and experience the two stores, especially the existence of the elevating front camera, which made people unable to resist “flirting” Some time. < / P > < p > but you think it’s over? This kind of mechanical structure is easy to shape, the fuselage is heavy, it occupies the internal space of the mobile phone, and it is not easy to make waterproof. This is obviously almost the same as our ideal full screen. Other screen forms are facing problems such as incomplete screen, poor appearance and so on. In contrast, the most common 18:9 full screen seems to be the most practical solution. When I write here, do some people think that this picture is similar to that a few years ago, but the theme has changed to “explore the best form of a full screen”. By 2020, the above screen form and the subsequent perforated screen have been quite mature. This year, a number of mobile phones with perforated curved screen have appeared. With narrow borders and small openings, the proportion of screens is very high. On this basis, major manufacturers have also brought higher quality screens, higher refresh rate and resolution. < / P > < p > it is worth noting that ZTE axon 205g, the world’s first off screen camera phone, will be launched on September 1. < / P > < p > after more than 10 years of development, the form of smart phones has made a qualitative leap forward. When you take the mobile phones of that year and the smart phones of this year, especially the flagship products, you can feel the rapid development speed of the times. When we use the full screen mobile phone in our hands to watch videos and play games, we can feel the superiority of this screen form. However, this happiness is accompanied by troubles. < / P > < p > the maturity of comprehensive screen development is undoubtedly a good thing, whether for the product itself or the user experience of consumers, but it also leads to another problem – homogenization. < / P > < p > take this year’s flagship mobile phone as an example, and you will find that the current models basically adopt the design idea of curved surface + small hole punching, and there are only differences in screen size in the core. As I mentioned earlier, it’s hard to tell which model it is when the screen is not on or the back is not turned on. Of course, there are also individual models that integrate more functions in the punching process, so the area of the holes becomes larger. However, the appearance of the mobile phone is more recognizable. < / P > < p > but as far as the current situation is concerned, the hole digging full screen is a very mature comprehensive screen scheme. At the same time, the width of the front opening and the border should be continuously reduced, and the proportion of the screen should be expanded as much as possible to improve the appearance of the screen. Before the scheme of the camera under the screen is mature, it is undoubtedly the most pragmatic. In addition, improving the quality of the screen itself is also a major feature of this year’s flagship, such as 120Hz refresh rate, 2K resolution, more accurate color, more colors, higher brightness, etc. It is worth noting that this is also one of the common points of 2020 flagship mobile phones. Therefore, in a certain sense, despite the phenomenon of homogenization, the experience of consumers has not declined, but has been generally improved. < / P > < p > let’s go back to the screen form itself. As far as the full screen is concerned, the off screen camera is undoubtedly the most “ideal” solution. It not only hides the front camera to ensure the positive view, but also adds extra weight without mechanical structure, which is an inevitable development of comprehensive screen. However, we can also assume that if the off screen camera becomes the standard configuration of mobile phones in the future, will not the front of each mobile phone have only the screen and frame, and the design will be more similar? This is one of the reasons why manufacturers have strengthened the back design. < / P > < p > then when the front of the phone is completely occupied by the screen, how can we distinguish each other? The back of the mobile phone becomes a good platform. At present, some of the mobile phones that have been released use vertical cameras, some use matrix cameras, and some use horizontal cameras. At the same time, the materials of the back panel are more abundant than before, such as glass, ceramics, Ag glass, plain leather, carbon fiber, etc., which are matched with each other to form a lot of high-quality and recognizable designs. For example, one plus eight pro of the fifth generation Ag glass, Xiaomi 10 supreme commemorative version with transparent back cover, Huawei P40 PRO + of ceramics, etc. < / P > < p > when you show the back of different brands of mobile phones together, it’s really thousands of people and thousands of faces. They all have their own unique appearance. At the same time, they also show the emotion that manufacturers want to express on a mobile phone, or show the positioning of this mobile phone. In addition, through different back materials, consumers can really feel the existence of mobile phones through touch. < p > < p > in this part, we take Huawei P40 series as an example. There are three types of mobile phones, namely P40, P40 pro and P40 Although the back of PRO + is arranged with matrix cameras, the number of cameras is gradually increasing. The “super large cup” has five cameras in the rear. Moreover, only this version uses ceramic back cover, which has a higher positioning, which is very different from the other two models of the same series. Through the distinction of configuration and material, the high-end positioning of “super large cup” is well highlighted. Moreover, from the perspective of use, when we take pictures, answer and make calls, play games, or put the mobile phone upside down on the desktop, the display is basically the back of the mobile phone. At this time, a design with good design and appropriate material collocation can highlight the temperament of the brand and the appearance of the product itself. If the combination is good enough, it can be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. In addition to Huawei mate 30 series mentioned above, the transparent version of Xiaomi digital series flagship is also a good example. < / P > < p > from a variety of front designs to today’s all-round screen, from the back with only one camera and plastic back cover to the current rear multi camera and multi-material collaboration, smart phones have become different in appearance design, and can better meet the needs and positioning of different consumer groups. In particular, the changeable back design makes the mobile phone more recognizable and more expressive The style and temperament the brand wants to express. < / P > < p > and the front screen seems to have fewer and fewer surprises at this stage, and it is more and more difficult to surprise, which indicates that we are already in a bottleneck, but it also proves that our smartphone industry is mature and can be done by everyone. What we need to do now is to break through this maturity and cultivate a new “immature”, which means a new space for development and a huge driving force for progress.