Phone Makers Add 5G Antenna Lines to Metal Frames to Restore Wireless Signals
Updated
Updated · MUO - MakeUseOf · Jul 4
Phone Makers Add 5G Antenna Lines to Metal Frames to Restore Wireless Signals
1 articles · Updated · MUO - MakeUseOf · Jul 4
Summary
Plastic antenna lines and glass cutouts let cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS signals pass through metal phone bodies that would otherwise act like a Faraday cage.
Metal unibody designs spread heat better, feel more premium and add rigidity, but that same aluminum construction blocks radio transmission and prevents fully metal phones from supporting wireless charging.
Edge lines replaced older back-panel strips as manufacturers hid the compromise more cleanly, while glass backs and rear windows became common because they preserve signal performance without abandoning metal frames.
Oval side cutouts on some models house mmWave 5G antennas, though mmWave remains rare because coverage is short-range, costly to deploy and power-hungry.
That trade-off helped push the industry toward the modern glass-and-metal 'sandwich' design, keeping metal rails while leaving enough non-metal surface for wireless connectivity.