We may soon be able to say goodbye to smartphones that shatter on impact with concrete or other hard surfaces, as the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is rumored to have a plastic OLED display, that is not only shatter-proof, but also allows for a thinner device (or to fit a bigger battery inside).

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is rumored to have an even larger screen of 5.9″-5.99″, which is around the size I expected it to be. They were going to make it larger than the Galaxy Note 2, so people have a reason to buy the new “Note” over the even bigger Galaxy S4 (compared to Galaxy S3). A 0.5″ difference between the Galaxy S4 and the next Note might’ve been too small for people to consider it, if they would’ve kept the size the same as the Galaxy Note 2.

In the same time, I think it’s unlikely they will go over the 6″ limit, because it’s a psychological barrier. It’s good from a marketing point of view to say the device is 5.9″ or even 5.99″, because people will still associate it with a “5” phone” rather than a “6” tablet”. This may seem like a trivial difference, but I believe it will make a difference in sales. I actually believe it would be better to go with 5.9″ rather than 5.99″, because that’s cutting it too close, and they don’t want people to call it a 6″ phone. They should want to call it a 5.9″ phone.

Samsung has been pretty good at making very compact smartphones lately, and fitting bigger screens in the same overall size of the device as their competitors. For example, they’ve managed to put a 4.8″ display in about the same device size as the HTC One X, which only had a 4.7″ display. They’ve also managed to make a 5.5″ Galaxy Note in only a slightly bigger device size than the original Galaxy Note, which had a 5.3″ screen. This is why I expect the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 to not be much bigger than the Galaxy Note 2, even though it should have a 0.4″ bigger screen.

Why Note 3 Will Have a Plastic Display

A device with a larger screen can also be shattered much more easily, and it’s probably why Samsung is making it their first phone with such a display. The new plastic OLED display also seems to be thinner, and that means Samsung will be able to make the device thinner and lighter (which could be needed for such a big device), or they can decide to put a bigger battery (4,000 mAh+) in it, to be able to keep the large screen device with a 1080p resolution alive for a whole day.

My only concern with the plastic OLED display is whether it will also be scratch-proof or not. Plastic displays can be very easily scratched, so hopefully the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will also use a technology that makes the display very hard to scratch, too.