Samsung has already explained its love for plastic, and why it chose to stick with it for the flagship Galaxy S4. But after receiving a lot of criticism for that decision, the company’s head of design, Dennis Miloseski, was forced to defend the Galaxy S4’s plastic build once again at Engadget’s Expand conference in San Francisco this weekend.

A lot of fans were disappointed that Samsung didn’t choose a more premium material for the Galaxy S4, especially after HTC launched the stunning HTC One built from aluminum earlier this year. But Samsung feels smartphone design is less about the material, and more about the soul.

Seriously.

“We’re making devices thinner and lighter, screens more beautiful,” Miloseski said. “With Samsung, it’s less about that but more about building a meaningful relationship with technology. As these devices become smarter, letting them sense where you are and adjusting to that, it’s known that design will improve over time.”

“But now, we’re thinking about: how do you create a soul for a device,” Miloseski continued. “The design process doesn’t start with a material. It doesn’t start with us saying, ‘Okay, we’re going to make a device that uses metal.’ The design process starts with a story.”

So, it’s nothing do with cutting costs or making the production process easier. The Galaxy S4 is made from plastic because Samsung was concerned with creating a soul for it, and it’s not made from metal because the design process starts with a story.

That makes perfect sense.

• ViaMacgasm