The only time I ever see caseless phones is in the movies. Everyone I know protects their phone like it costs $1k to replace it. So I’m curious, is my circle unusual or the norm?
Most people I see in public don’t have a case on their phone. But I also see a lot of people with fucked up phones and cracked screens, so maybe they should.
A lot of people also don’t spent that much on their phone, or have an easy, cheaper way to replace it through their carrier. Mine for example, I can usually find a current flagship device for no money down and pay it off $20-30 extra on my bill if I was to get a new device for any reason, or use the protection warranty and only spend $100 for a replacement on my current device if I lose it or break it.
They could also be work devices, owned by the company they work for and simply DGAF.
I swear, most fucked up screens I see are actually temperate glass screen protectors. The cracked protector is proof to them the protector works. I take it as proof a thin piece of glass barely adhered to a flexible chassis is way more prone to failure than the actual screen. I had film protectors until I my pixel 3a. Surprise, screen glass is hard as… Glass.
(edit: see comment below saying it’s a wear item. Unedited comment still here:) I cannot fathom why my coworker continually replaces the soft protector on his Samsung flip due to failure at the hinge. . The folding phone. The one that only ever goes in his phone folded.
Surprise, screen glass is hard as… Glass.
In some cases, even harder! Gorilla Glass has a variety of material strengths over glass in hardness, but at the cost of being (slightly) less scratch resistant.
Interesting. I did get some very mild scratches from keys on my pixel 7 early on. I didn’t think harder glass would come with less scratch resistance. Sure you don’t mean greater tensile strength?
Maybe? They’re less prone to shattering.
The flip and the fold come with a screen protector from the factory. It’s integral to the phone as the screen is flexible and soft, without it the screen would get opaque and dull. People forget that the point of cases and screen protectors is to be like rubber tires. They’re there to take weather (not damage) instead of the phone, and to be easily replaced on the regular. Samsung offers a replacement service for the flip that changes protectors regularly with the phone protection program.
You know… I didn’t think about that because I don’t own it and haven’t touched it. Consider the topic fathomed. Seems like some people do just fine without the protector, but I was blinded with our hard glass designs. Thank you
Yeah, like, there’s even a little leaflet that is the first thing you see when you open the box that just says “Don’t remove the screen protector. If it gets damaged, don’t replace it yourself, send it in for a free replacement.” Or some wording of that kind.
I don’t use a phone case. I already think phones are too big. Adding a case makes the phone even bigger and even bulkier. I’m usually pretty good at not dropping my phone.
Yes, usually, because I actually did drop it recently. 😅 Although, the screen is fine. It just has a little love tap on the corner. It’s got character now. It’s got the “worn” look.
The only reason I started using cases is because they made the latest Pixels so low friction that they refuse to stay put on most surfaces.
Pixels can move?
With the help of gravity!
I refuse to use a case on principle. The idea that you need a case to protect a phone from everyday use is so ass-backwards it hurts my brain. (and was not always the situation!)
It would be so much more space, weight, and cost efficient to simply engineer in the durability provided by a case through the use of proper materials and construction. But apparently marketing thinks nobody would buy a phone that looks and feels out of the box the way a phone with a case feels. So we end up with these thin, elegant, glass and polished aluminum devices… that most of the population has to immediately hide inside a bulky plastic/rubber case to have a chance of surviving 6 months.
Imagine if a carmaker sold a premium vehicle with a polished metal and glass exterior that you had to protect under a vinyl wrap to keep it from rusting and chipping under normal use… they’d be a laughing stock!
Imagine if a carmaker sold a premium vehicle with a polished metal and glass exterior that you had to protect under a vinyl wrap to keep it from rusting and chipping under normal use… they’d be a laughing stock!
tesla cybertruck wanders into chat, spots comment, slinks quietly back out with a red face
A phone doesn’t break under normal use. It breaks under rough use. If you treat a car rough it will get dents and scratches and rust etc.
even better yet, make that durable phone shell user-replacable! you can even have those shells in different styles and colours so users can accessorize their devices any way they like! this would also give birth to a thriving industry of aftermarket shells for your phones, where small makers can even 3D-print their own shells for sale.
I am thinking of the nothing CMF phone 2 rn
Wait doesn’t the cyber truck had an issue where it was possible for it to rust? Not to mention the unreasonably large glass windshield that would be expensive to replace?
In my experience iPhones (12 and 14 specifically, are the ones I have had) are plenty durable that you can use them without a case.
I do and only have some slight scratches in the screen. Nothing noticeable during normal usage.
I paid for the titanium phone, I’m gunna look at the titanium phone.
I actually don’t like the look or feel of my 15 vs my older 13.
I keep my 15 in a case, and fondle my 13.
I wasn’t enthralled by the finish on the iPhone 15 Pro, coming from the 13 Pro, but the one on the 16 Pro is WAY better since they didn’t brush the titanium. It’s perfectly matte without picking up all the fingerprints.
That’s my thinking as well. So at least u use a clear case that lets me see the titanium. At home I’ll take it off because I want to feel the titanium as well
Never use a case. Had one on my blackberry back in the day, but never since. I’m pretty careful with my phone. When I am holding it, I recognize that it’s a $500 device and needs to be treated with care. That being said, I am a strong supporter of being present in the moment and my phone usually only comes out if I need to call/text or look up some information. Unless im sitting in a vehicle or waiting room, I just don’t really use my phone much.
if you don’t use your phone very much, why even spend 500 USD on it? you can probably get a 200 usd phone to serve the same function. Honest question.
I’m on the same level as the person you responded to, but I do use a phone a lot at home. Maybe they were talking about “not at home” usage.
I bought an unlocked pixel 4a while back so I could install LineageOS and extend my phones life. Still getting updates and on the latest android version.
Yes. Never had one, never needed one, never cracked my screen.
Just makes the phone unnecessarily bigger and uncomfortable to put in your pocket.
It makes it uncomfortable to hold.
A good case makes phones much more comfortable to hold. Modern phones seem to be aiming for maximum slipperiness and sharp corners because it looks “premium”
The phones don’t seem slippery to me. They feel more real without a case.
I was initially in the minimalist camp of just getting coverage for it and going naked.
Then someone stepped on it and I had to go through the whole ordeal of scheduling and getting it fixed.
After that I started applying screen protectors and using a case.
Do you still store it on the floor?
Well yeah - now it’s got a case and a screen protector - so I can be as reckless as I want to with it.
Until I learn my next lesson - whatever that might be.
Not using one with my fairphone, it’s bulky enough already, the entire back is replaceable for cheap and the frame looks solid. I dropped it quite a lot, including on some hard surfaces, and it’s only made a few superficial marks, like it scraped the frame’s shiny coating in that spot, but that’s about it.
I do use screen protectors though. They’re cheap and are not as intrusive as cases. Just changed it after years of service actually, the thing was all fucked up with scratches and missing glass everywhere, and the actual screen under was absolutely spotless.
Exactly the same, just that I don’t use a screen protector either.
This thing has been dropped so much that I think it’s just undestroyable, the new Nokia 3310
Same, I’ve yeeted mine across the road and it’s still fine.
I wish there were aftermarket components available for that thing.
I don’t use them. Or screen protectors . I take good care of my devices, and my phone gets its own pocket always, so no scratches. I’ve only broken 1 phone in my life and it was only the back glass on an iPhone 4, which slipped off my motorcycle seat because that fucking phone was frictionless.
Yes. No case. Why would I? I specifically got the phone because it’s quite small, and feels nice in the hand. A case would ruin that.
I also have not dropped any of my phones once in the past ~10 years.
I also have not dropped any of my phones once in the past ~10 years.
I am in fear and awe. I put in incredible mental and physical effort not to drop my devices yet have managed to drop and break about half of them (while they were in cases, too).
On the upside it forced me to learn basic electronics repair lol
I use a case and I have (very rarely) dropped my phones, but I’ve never broken one (or even significantly damaged one) by doing so. I suspect that might be because the lip of most cases protects the screen from direct impact with flat surfaces. Or maybe I’ve just been lucky.
And I do agree with you that a case bulks up the phone a bit and you lose that satisfying thinness. However, to me, there’s a positive trade-off: if you get the right case (like a silicone one), you can significantly increase the tackiness of its surfaces, giving you a much better grip on it. This, to me, is the chief benefit of having a case—not to protect it should you drop it, but to make it so you’re much less likely to drop it in the first place.
Case for nonslip surface, and a wrist strap.
A wrist strap on your phone will change your life.
- you can dangle the phone from your wrist
- you can attach the phone to a sling like a photo grapher
- you can hang the phone from a hook or door knob
- you can hold the phone vertically on your hand without Gripping it (tension pyramid)
- on airplanes you can hang the phone from the tray table in front of you
- easy to grab the phone when your blindly groping for it
Most young people probably don’t need a wrist strap as their phone is already permanently glued to their hand.
ಠ_ಠ leave my pinky notch out of this.
Always a case! I need a case with a clear back so I can put Bad Dragon stickers on the back without using their adhesive.
I also get giant phones so a pop socket is necessary.
I use a $5 thin silicone case. Just enough to cushion the blow. I haven’t broken any phones, but I drop them a lot.
I always use a case and I never spend £1k on a phone. More like £300
1k on a phone feels like someone has money to burn.
