Thunderbolt - plastic or metal?

[cleon527]

Does the Thunderbolt have a plastic or metal body?

 

[BCM]

Aluminum unibody.

 

[SamMax]

This video clarifies the Aluminum Unibody.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-VeohhXQnM

 

[robrecht]

This guy has one and he says it's plastic:

YEAH baby! My Demo will be here today! - Page 17 - Droid Forum - Verizon Droid & the Motorola Droid Forum

 

[sean76]

Its pretty much plastic!

 

[EarlyMon]

I vote we wait for a proper teardown - I'd expect iFixit to do that - then we'll _know_.

 

[Hoonage]

This guy has one and he says it's plastic:

YEAH baby! My Demo will be here today! - Page 17 - Droid Forum - Verizon Droid & the Motorola Droid Forum

on another posting, he says the cover is plastic, but it's definitely a metal unibody.

YEAH baby! My Demo will be here today! - Page 27 - Droid Forum - Verizon Droid & the Motorola Droid Forum

 

[TxGoat]

Hell considering this phone seems to be a myth at this point, I'm going to wager that it's made out of pure Unobtainium.....

 

[rushmore]

I think it is metallic plastic

 

[stratusmonkey]

The Inspire (AT&T) has an aluminum shell with a rubberized battery door and cowl around the camera. The dummy Bolts have an entire back panel made of the rubberized stuff and there's no metal to be found on the outside. I wouldn't usually judge from a dummy unit, but the Inspire dummy unit has the same aluminum shell as the production model.

I don't know what Bob From Wirefly and the dude above were talking about when he said the Bolt had a metal frame. It could be something that was dropped after the test units were shipped. Or he could be talking about a purely internal frame. Either way, I won't feel guilty about putting it in a case.

Also, any idea what the plastic nipple (navel) is on the back? Just below the kickstand, right in the middle.

 

[TxGoat]

I think it is metallic plastic

Or plastellic metal....

 

[rushmore]

Or plastellic metal....

Sold!

 

[robrecht]

... I don't know what Bob From Wirefly and the dude above were talking about when he said the Bolt had a metal frame. ... Or he could be talking about a purely internal frame.

That seems to be the consensus in the thread I linked above. I'm bummed. I was hoping that the Bolt had an aluminum exterior shell. That would have been cool.

Anybody remember the aluminum Moto v60c that sold for $400 when it launched in 1997?

 

[odiej34]

Off topic but how about the screen, is it gorilla glass?

 

[EarlyMon]

To my knowledge, HTC is not on Corning's list of adopters, so I believe not.