Material's documentation clearly distinguishes between each type of field and its use case: https://m2.material.io/components/text-fields#filled-text-field > Filled text field Usage > > Filled text fields have more visual emphasis than outlined text > fields, making them stand out when surrounded by other content and > components. > https://m2.material.io/components/text-fields#outlined-text-field > Outlined text field Usage > > Outlined text fields have less visual emphasis than filled text > fields. When they appear in places like forms, where many text fields > are placed together, their reduced emphasis helps simplify the layout.