This was published 7 years ago
Phone cases: Buy your friend some body armour
If you're going to spend a bundle on a new phone, it makes sense to fork out a bit extra on a bit of protection for it.
By Cynthia Karena
A friend of mine loved the look of his new silver phone so much he refused to buy a protective case for it. But shiny new phones are slippery, and within a month he dropped it. While his expensive investment still worked, it had a set of rather artistic cracks on the back.
Buying a protective case is the least you can do for your phone. And it's worth spending the extra money for one that passes a drop test. Even if you don't drop it, somebody else might.
Big and chunky, the Otter phone case looks ugly but might just save your phone.
For decent protection, consider a two-layered model with an inner flexible rubber layer to absorb shock and an outer rigid plastic layer to spread impact. Cases should fit snugly and have precision cut-outs that allow full access to all buttons and ports.
I tested the following on a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.
For the accident prone among us, or if you just want an extra rugged case, the OtterBox Rugged Protection Defender ($80), is one of the best around. It's certainly not sleek and stylish, but there are three layers of protection.
The Speck CandyShell Clear case, ($60) is a sturdy two-layered clear design, drop tested to 1.2 metres and resistant to UV yellowing. Clear cases make sense; so much thought has gone into making phones look stylish it seems a shame to cover them up.
Incipio DualPro ($45) in matte silver has two layers and is drop tested to 3.7 metres. The slim Incipio Octane Pure ($35) is made from a translucent rubbery material that has superb grippiness. It's only drop tested to 1.8 metres, but the extra grip means less likelihood of getting to the dropping stage.
The Tech21Evo Frame ($50) is a slim, frosted clear case with a 2-metre drop protection. It doesn't look like it's standard military issue, but isn't as grippy as the Incipio clear.