You're not wrong, but for me the ideal phone design occurred with the Palm Pre. That slide out keyboard was tactilely the most satisfying thing ever. And it was sized to not be intrusive.
this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2026
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I'd personally hand that crown to the LG V10. It's absolutely beautiful to look at, and with the rubberized back cover and stainless steel side rails, it felt amazing in your hand.
It also had a completely flat screen that was slightly recessed below the "chin and forehead" of the display - so if you slap on a screen protector without a cutout for the front cameras, you literally can't even tell it's there.
And don't even get me started on the features.
I was legitimately sad when LG left the market. It feels like nowadays, the only company left making "high-end phones at mid-range prices" is Motorola, while every other company is following the Apple/Samsung trend of charging literally whatever they can get away with.
We used to live in a world where a company would make a product "X", calculate how much it costs to manufacture, factor in a 30 percent profit margin to cover reinvestment into the company, and call that the "price".
Now, largely thanks to Apple, the "price" is whatever the marketing department can convince people to pay with advertising heavily on FOMO and "coolness", regardless of the manufacturing cost. It's a shitty way to do business (in my opinion). LG was one of the last of the good ones sticking to the old ways. Now it's just Moto.
LG was among the last brands that actually dared to experiment with new stuff. It wasn't always a hit, but they brought a ton of cool ideas to the table.
I still have the successor to the V10 - the V20 - lying around somewhere, though I've "upgraded" to a Samsung XCover 6 Pro since then. The LG got slow as hell and had been rebuilt multiple times anyway.
Since OP didn't link a picture.
I'd argue phone design peaked at the iPhone 13 pro in that amazing blue color. The polished stainless steel feels amazing in the hand. Apple switching to titanium was a mistake. It has sharp edges, but unlike other phones, it felt nice in my hand. Plus it was the first iPhone with mmWave 5g, and the last (in the US) with a physical sim card slot. If only it had USB C I'd still be using it as my main phone. I keep mine around purely because I like to fondle it.
iPhone 13 Pro user here: I don't like it. Heavy as f... and sharp edges all around. The best iPhone designs were the 3G(s), which felt natural in the hands because of the size and rounded back, and - from the more recent designs - the X and 11 series. The rounded frame was just so much better.
The only way it sits flat is face-down like in the picture and using a phone with a lopsided camera bump on a table suuuccckks.
I think if your phone design requires a case for functionality that basic, it may not be the worst design but...it's far from the best.
In your hand it's very nice.
Using it, because of the slipperiness and extra weight of ceramic, meh. I'd rather have plastic.
And I still have 3 of them