With phones becoming increasingly flat and homogeneous over the past few years, many companies like Huawei, Oppo, and OnePlus have begun resorting to CMF to create a factor of differentiation, with gradients, anisotropic reflective metallic finishes, and holographic patterns. As a fan of solid colors, it seems unlikely that Google would adopt that path, but something like this Pixel 4 concept with a carbon-fiber finish is definitely something that would look like a thousand bucks (although quite out of Google’s ball-park).
The rumored Pixel 4’s back obviously wouldn’t be made out of carbon fiber, given that it would definitely affect the phone’s ability to wirelessly charge, but Google could just as easily create a faux carbon fiber pattern in their glass/ceramic back through clever etching. The end result would look as good as a vinyl clad, giving the phone a completely new avatar, with the same body and soul! Hey Sundar, think your team can pull this off?
Designer: Jonas Daehnert
Don’t forget to check out Ferris: A modular, magnetic key and wallet organization system.
