![](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/564a26fd8788a77d89cb744e3b155a0312eb227f/hub/2013/03/14/28aeab1c-cbf2-11e2-9a4a-0291187b029a/samsung-galaxy-s4-weather-widget.jpg?auto=webp&width=1200)
Samsung’s next smart phone could arrive sporting a swanky metal jacket, if fresh rumours are to be believed.
The South Korean tech giant is considering ditching the plastic for at least one high-end smart phone due out after April next year, according to a report in Taipei Times, which cites banking analysts who’ve apparently been checking facts with supply-chain companies.
There’s only one high-end Samsung smart phone that traditionally comes out in early summer that we care about — the fifth iteration of Samsung’s Galaxy S line. Samsung is reportedly looking into using the same company that makes the metal frames for Apple’s iPad mini and HTC’s mobiles.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 is made from plastic, making it extremely light, and — in our destruction test — helped it handle a series of unpleasant falls without taking too much damage.
Plastic phones are often criticised however for not feeling as fancy as their metallic rivals. Apple has just made the leap back to plastic, building the new iPhone 5C out of the oily stuff.
Durable Note 3?
Meanwhile, Samsung is also tipped to be building a version of the Note 3 with a flexible screen, according to a Chinese-language report from Sohu IT (Google translate link).
Before you get excited about the prospect of rolling your smart phone into a tight scroll and squeezing it into your pocket, this flexible screen tech would probably be moulded into a specific shape to make the phone more durable. Samsung has already showed off this moulded screen tech — check out a video here.
Samsung released the rugged Galaxy S4 Active soon after the S4 came out, so seeing a sturdy edition of the Note 3 soon definitely isn’t implausible. It’s tipped to be released in the next month.
Would you buy a sturdier Note 3? What do you think about metal phones? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook wall.
![](https://www.cnet.com/a/img/resize/cc8c291bdf4c0f1f506d747b545fb0fb12f1de8e/hub/2013/03/25/28b2a480-cbf2-11e2-9a4a-0291187b029a/original.jpg?auto=webp&fit=crop&height=110&width=196)
Now playing:
Watch this:
Samsung Galaxy S phone evolution
4:15