Corning revealed its 7th generation Gorilla Glass four years ago, which came with new branding, Gorilla Glass Victus. It was designed for more premium devices.
Now, the company will be releasing a new glass for “value and intermediate devices.”
Gorilla Glass 7i has been designed for mid-range and affordable phones. The company revealed the ‘i’ stands for “industry-leading innovation for intermediate devices.”
Corning claims this version can survive drops from up to 1m (3.3ft) onto rough surfaces like asphalt, it’s two times more scratch-resistant than competing glasses, and the formulation was designed to suit a wide variety of phones at different price points.
The company, along with its partners, believed it was time for a more modern version, that can fit into more modest budgets while matching the trend of placing high-quality displays inside mid-range devices.
Corning revealed Oppo would be the first to unveil a phone featuring this new version of Gorilla Glass, with more details coming from Oppo soon.
Gorilla Glass 7i is set to be used in phones but is still suitable for smartwatches and other devices prone to scratches and falling.
Dan Orr, the product line manager and strategy director for Corning, revealed that durability is still important, but now the optical properties of the glass are a focus too. Armor reduces reflections, improves light transmittance and outdoor readability, as well as colour rendering.
Armor also allows the display to run at a lower brightness, while still achieving the same readability, and maintaining the option to turn up the brightness if needed.
The special coating used by Armor can’t be applied to any glass. Corning designed the glass and the coating to work together, with the final result having enhanced durability and scratch resistance.
