Comment by coldpie
Remember soft touch plastics? Grippy and didn't waste all the space of a case? Then some dingleberry marketer decided slippery metals and glass were "premium" and braindead phone reviewers happily parroted that crap and now everyone buys several mm thick cases made of soft touch plastics to cover up the "premium" materials they bought. Sigh.
I do. My HTC Amaze had nice soft-touch plastic on top of an aluminum back, was slim (for the era) and grippy. Also had a Galaxy Note (forget which one) that had a leathery soft touch back, was very nice. The physical design of phones definitely peaked long ago...