Why a Quality Case Is the Most Important Accessory for Any New Mobile Device

You just spent a lot of money on a new phone. The second most important purchase you make shouldn’t be a streaming subscription or a pair of wireless earbuds. It should be a phone case.

Today’s smartphones are feats of engineering covered in materials that have no room for any errors. The front is made of glass, the back is also possibly made of glass, and the two sides are connected by polished metal rails. It is an extraordinary piece of equipment that is quite challenging to handle. And that’s precisely why protection is non-negotiable.

The glass problem nobody talks about at checkout.

Phone makers have devoted years to the pursuit of ever-larger screens, minimising the “bezel” – the plastic board that a half-decade ago framed the size of a phone’s display. That was a good trade for usability. It’s a bad trade for durability.

New edge-to-edge glass displays means there’s almost no structural “buffer” between the screen itself and the edge of the device. Old phones had thick bezels which took the brunt of the impact when a device fell “corner first”. New phones have Corning Gorilla Glass running almost to the very edge of the lip of the frame. Gorilla Glass is genuinely scratch-resistant. However, it is not shatter-resistant. A single hard drop onto concrete at the wrong angle will shatter it no matter how premium the branding.

The new camera bump creates a secondary problem. Phone lenses now protrude past the chassis of the phone, meaning that when the phone is placed screen down there is a very slight rocking on the camera housing. Over the course of months, that repeated contact with abrasive surfaces wears the lens coating and scratches the glass surrounding it.

What happens physically during a drop.

When your phone falls corner-first to the ground, the impact energy is transmitted through the body within milliseconds. If there’s no case to help spread that energy, the force is localized at the impact site. That’s right where the screen connectors and logic board are – conveniently located near the corners.

A good case, such as those found at Shamo’s Cases, spreads out that impact force and even absorbs some of the shock energy itself. Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) works by flexing under stress to absorb the hit. Polycarbonate works by distributing the load across a larger surface area. That’s why the best protective cases use a combination of both polycarbonate and TPU, rather than a single material.

The bezel also helps protect the screen in these instances. If the lip extends past the screen, the phone screen never actually impacts a flat surface during a face-first fall. The same goes for camera cutouts with a recessed ring around the lens.

The financial case for spending the money now.

People in the U.S. alone were out $3.4 billion in a single year for shattered smartphone screens (SquareTrade). You think it won’t happen to you until it does and repair for an out-of-warranty flagship screen averages $200 to $400. Back glass repair is nearly as expensive in certain scenarios since the back panel is in fact the back chassis. One drop, one bad angle, one unprotected phone: that’s a repair bill that’s 10 to 15 times the cost of a quality case to protect your investment.

No one really wants to slap some OtterBox monstrosity on their device though. Options for the careful slim-profile, high-impact enthusiast abound, including concerns like Qi wireless charging and button covers that maintain the tactile feedback of the original hardware.

The argument gets even stronger when resale is factored in. Every trade-in program and secondary market buyer appraises devices by their cosmetic state. A phone in a case for two years betrays none of the micro-abrasions, scuffed rails, and port buildup of an unprotected device. That difference directly impacts your trade-in value for credit.

Grip is protection, too.

Glass-back phones and polished metal frames were made to be as slippery as possible, making the things that are supposed to give an expensive, high-quality impression in a store the exact things that are can easily slide right off a nightstand or out of a hand.

A case with some texture vastly improves the coefficient of friction between the phone and the surface it’s on or the person holding it. This isn’t a small improvement either. The best drop is the one that never happens, and for that, a grippy case is unequivocally better than a pretty one. Matte finishes and micro-textured grips are intended to minimize the number of incidents that actually test the case’s engineering in the first place.

Long-term hygiene and chassis condition.

A phone case serves a purpose beyond adding a stylish touch to your phone. It protects your phone from damage that can be incurred over time. For example, pocket lint and dirt can accumulate in ports and crevices causing malfunctions. Scratches on the screen or body of the phone can decrease its resale value. And the oleophobic coating on a screen can get worn out faster if it’s constantly in contact with hard surfaces.

A phone case prevents all that from happening. It protects your phone from dirt and scratches, keeps your phone looking and functioning like new, and can end up saving you money in the long run. Buying a new phone without a phone case is like insuring your car only for accidents, but not for theft or other liabilities. We all hope nothing will go wrong, but things often do, and they can cost a bundle to repair.

When it comes to protecting your cell phone investment, you can hope for the best but it’s better to plan for the worst. That plan is as simple as a quality phone case to protect your device from potential damage.

Do you have adequate protections on your phone and other mobile devices?

Keeping it on the edge,

Shelbee